OF 


Pfl/^ 


*     MAR  29  1900 


BV  2637  .R4  J2 
Jackson,  John,  1853-1917. 
Mary  Reed,  missionary  to  th 
lepers 


Miss  Mary  Reed,  Chandag, 


xN 


MARY   REED 


MISSIONARY  TO 
THE    LEPERS 


BY 


JOHN  JACKSON 

(^Organizing  and  Deputation  Secretary  to  the  Mission  to  Lepers 
in  India  and  the  East) 


WITH  INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  BY 
REV.  F.  B.  MEYER,  B.A. 


ILLUSTRATED 


New  York        Chicago        Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


Extract  from  Miss  Reed's  Letter ^  dated 
June  gth,  i8gg : 

"  Since  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  requesting  a  brief 
account  of  God's  dealings  with  me,  and  of  some  of  my 
experiences  during  1897,  1898,  and  so  far  in  1899,  I 
feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  give  you  some  sketches  from 
an  almost  blank  diary,  supplemented  by  something 
from  a  poor  memory.  This  I  consider  a  duty  on  my 
part,  since  your  object  is  worthy  any  sacrifice  any  one 
could  make.  .  .  .  Never  could  I  have  been 
induced  to  sanction  the  publication  you  purpose  send- 
ing forth  on  the  blessed  mission  of  interesting  kind 
hearts  in  Christ's  little  ones,  had  I  not  realized  during 
these  years  that  I  belong  to  Jesus ;  and  so  1  am  glad 
to  be  used  in  any  way  for  His  service  and  in  the  ad- 
vancement of  His  Kingdom," 


Contents 

chap.                                                                             page 
Extract  from  Miss  Reed's  Letter 6 

Introductory  Words  by  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer  .    .  7 

I.    Early  Life 9 

II.    Discovery  and  Decision 13 

III.  The  Way  of  the  Cross 17 

IV.  Appointed  to  Chandag 22 

V.    Among  the  Lepers 27 

VI.    Trials  and  Triumphs — 1894 33 

VII.    Praise  and  Progress— 1895 4* 

VIII.    A  Welcome  Visitor— 1895 5' 

IX.    Travail  of  Soul — 1896 61 

X.    Year  by  Year 69 

XI.    Christmas  with  the  Lepers 81 

XII.    A  Vision  of  the  Night 89 

XIII.  Divided  Duties— 1897 9^ 

XIV.  Light  and  Shade — 1898 109 

XV.    The  Prayer  of  Faith— .1899 117 


List  of  Illustrations. 

Miss  Mary  Reed,  Chandag      .         .         .         Frontispiece 
Willie  Russell Facing  page  i8 

A  Group  of  Indian  Lepers 

AT  Sabathu  Asylum    .        .        .        .       "         "28 

Three  Burmese  Lepers         ...  "         "92 


Introductory   Words 

One  of  the  pleasantest  episodes  in  my  recent  visit 
to  India  was  the  privilege  of  enjoying  the  hospitahty 
of  Miss  Thoburn  at  Lucknow.  One  of  her  guests 
was  Miss  Mary  Reed,  with  whom  I  had  more  than 
one  delightful  talk.  This  is  my  plea  for  writing  a  few 
introductory  words  to  this  record  of  her  life  and  work. 

She  told  me  her  wonderful  story ;  how  she  first  dis- 
covered that  she  was  afflicted  with  the  painful  and 
loathsome  disease  of  leprosy ;  tore  herself  away  from 
those  who  loved  her,  without  trusting  herself  to  say 
good-bye ;  and  finally  consecrated  her  life  to  the  re- 
lief of  the  lepers  of  India.  From  the  first  day  until 
now  she  has  borne  her  heavy  cross  in  a  spirit  of  con- 
secration which  makes  the  story  of  her  life  one  of  the 
most  inspiring  in  missionary  biography. 

Next  to  sitting  with  her,  and  hearing  the  account  of 
God's  dealings  with  her  from  her  own  lips,  is  the  op- 
portunity of  reading  her  story  as  told  by  the  compiler 
of  these  pages,  who  has  brought  a  sympathetic  spirit 
and  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts  to  aid  him  in  the 
delineation  of  this  noble  life. 

Not  only  does  she  never  utter  a  murmuring  word  at 

her  lot  of  suffering  and  isolation,  or  her  environment 

of  sin,  disease,  and  death,  but  she  joyfully  acquiesces 

in  what  she  accepts  as  God's  will.     She  has  already 

7 


8  Introductory   Words 

labored  for  eight  years  among  her  fellow -sufferers  with 
evident  tokens  of  the  Divine  approval.  Necessarily 
debarred  in  a  great  measure  from  the  privileges  of  in- 
tercourse with  fellow-workers,  she  has,  in  her  lonely 
retreat  amid  the  Himalayan  snows,  been  cast  the  more 
utterly  upon  God  and  has  proved  that 

*'  They  who  trust  Him  wholly 
Find  Him  wholly  true." 

She  has  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  Institution 
under  her  care  extend.  Her  afflicted  flock  has  also 
increased  in  number ;  but,  above  all,  she  has  had  the 
rare  joy  of  seeing  many  lepers  welcomed  into  the 
fellowship  of  the  Christian  Church. 

In  a  strength  which  is  distinctly  God-given,  she  la- 
bors on  in  faith  and  hope,  receiving  a  present  reward 
in  the  knowledge  that  in  the  deepest  sense  it  is  still 
true  that  the  "  Lepers  are  cleansed." 

I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  my  sincere  admira- 
tion for  Miss  Reed's  devoted  spirit  and  Christlike 
work,  and  I  commend  this  little  volume  to  all  those 
who  are  interested  in  foreign  missions,  and  trust  that 
it  may  be  the  means  of  eliciting  sympathy  and  support 
for  the  work  of  The  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India  and 
the  East,^  of  which  Society  Miss  Reed  is  an  honored 
and  valued  worker.  F.  B.  Meyer. 

1  Contributions  in  aid  of  this  most  interesting  work  may  be 
forwarded  through  the  publishers  of  this  volume. 


Mary  Reed 


EARLY   LIFE 

The  subject  of  this  brief  biography  was  bom  at 
Lowell,  Washington  County,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  and 
was  the  first  girl  in  a  family  of  four  brothers  and  four 
sisters.  Already  blessed  with  a  son,  we  may  be  sure 
the  hearts  of  the  parents  accorded  a  warm  welcome  to 
their  first  little  daughter.  Happily,  their  joy  was 
clouded  by  no  prevision  of  the  special  lot  of  suffering 
awaiting  her.  In  this  quiet  home,  watched  over  by 
her  parents,  and  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  of  love 
and  happiness,  the  years  of  Mary  Reed's  childhood 
glided  rapidly  away. 

When  about  sixteen,  an  age  critical  to  the  moral 
character,  her  nature  was  first  awakened  to  the  reality 
of  the  things  that  are  not  seen,  but  are  eternal.  As 
the  young  and  supple  seedling  is  bent  to  the  shape  that 
the  sturdy  oak  bears  in  after  years,  so  by  the  sweet 
constrainings  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  the  fresh  young  life 
was  gladly  yielded  to  her  Saviour,  and  thus  early  was 
commenced  the  service  which  is  now  being  consum- 
mated among  her  afflicted  fellow-sufferers  in  India. 
From  the  time  of  her  first  surrender  to  the  claims  of 
9 


10  Mary  Reed 

Christ,  she  appears  to  have  reaHzed  that  she  had  been 
saved  to  serve,  and  that  if  she  received,  it  was  in  order 
to  bestow.  An  intense  longing  that  others  should  share 
her  newly-found  joy  induced  her  to  engage  earnestly 
in  every  form  of  Christian  effort  open  to  her.  She 
was  led  to  adopt  the  profession  of  a  public  school- 
teacher, and  for  some  ten  years  she  pursued  this  call- 
ing with  success,  availing  herself  of  the  many  oppor- 
tunities her  position  afforded  to  impart  to  her  pupils 
the  knowledge  of  heavenly,  as  well  as  earthly,  things. 
May  we  not  see  in  this  experience  a  providential  prep- 
aration for  the  work  in  after  years,  of  the  organization 
and  supervision  of  a  large  institution,  peopled  by  those 
who,  although  men  and  women  in  years,  she  loves  to 
speak  of  as  her  ''little  ones,"  or  still  more  frequently 
as  *' Christ's  little  ones!  " 

But  the  Master  had  need  of  her  for  more  difficult 
service  than  teaching  work  in  America.  She  became 
conscious,  dimly  at  first,  of  an  inner  voice  pleading  on 
behalf  of  her  sisters  in  the  Zenanas  of  India,  still  sit- 
ting in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death.  With 
the  true  humility  which  still  characterizes  her,  she 
hesitated  to  believe  that  it  was  really  a  Divine  call  to 
leave  all  and  follow  whithersoever  the  Spirit  led.  But 
she  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision.  In 
spite  of  conscious  weakness  and  a  deep  distrust  of  her 
fitness  for  such  high  and  holy  work,  she  cried  at  length, 
like  Isaiah  of  old,  *'Here  am  I,  send  me,"  and  also, 
like  him,  she  heard  the  Divine  command,  *'  Go,  and 
tell  this  people." 

In  connection  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


Early  Life  ii 

of  America,  there  is  an  old-established  and  well-organ- 
ized Women's  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  and  to  the 
Directors  of  this  Miss  Reed  offered  her  services.  They 
were  gladly  accepted,  and  her  name  was  added  to  the 
roll  of  her  sisters,  then  numbering  forty  or  fifty,  but 
since  increased  to  200,  who  are  being  supported  by 
this  earnest  and  energetic  body.  To  the  Cincinnati 
Branch  fell  the  privilege  of  being  represented  by  Mary 
Reed,  and  the  loving  but  sad  farewells  having  been 
said,  she  reached  India  in  November,  1884.  This 
surrender,  on  the  part  of  the  dear  home  circle,  though 
it  cost  them  many  a  pang,  was  endured  for  the  Gospel's 
sake,  and  must,  in  some  measure,  have  prepared  them 
for  the  greater  renunciation,  then  hidden  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  future. 

At  the  Society's  North  India  Conference  in  January, 
1885,  Miss  Reed  was  allocated  to  Cawnpore,  for  work 
in  the  Zenanas  of  the  city  where  the  white  marble 
angel  marks  the  site  of  the  well  into  which  the  treach- 
erous Nana  Sahib  flung  the  bodies,  dead  and  dying,  of 
125  English  women  and  children.  It  is  surely  a 
Christlike  recompense  that  into  a  city  stained  within 
living  memory  with  so  foul  a  crime  as  this,  Christian 
women  should  carry  with  prayer  and  patient  labor  the 
glad  tidings  of  redeeming  love.  But  not  immediately 
was  this  herald  of  the  Cross  to  proclaim  her  Evangel 
to  the  women  of  Cawnpore.  At  this  juncture  her 
health  gave  way,  and  a  period  of  rest  and  change  be- 
came imperative.  In  unconscious  pursuance  of  the 
divinely  ordered  plan  of  her  life,  Pithoragarh,  in  the 
bracing  climate  of  the  Himalayas,  was  selected  for 


12  Mary  Reed 

the  purpose.  Here  she  spent  a  few  weeks  of  earnest 
preparation  for  the  work  then  awaiting  her.  In  addi- 
tion to  study  of  the  language,  and  observation  of  mis- 
sionary work  being  carried  on  in  the  neighborhood, 
she  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  very  spot  in 
which  was  to  be  erected  (two  years  later),  the  Asylum 
over  which  she  is  to-day  presiding  with  marked  ability 
and  success.  Her  pity  was  powerfully  awakened  on 
learning  that  within  a  comparatively  small  radius  of 
this  lovely  spot,  some  five  hundred  lepers  were  to  be 
found  in  a  condition  of  utter  misery  and  hopelessness. 
With  restored  health,  she  gladly  returned  to  Cawn- 
pore  to  enter  upon  the  work  to  which  she  had  been 
appointed,  and  which  for  four  years  she  was  permitted 
to  prosecute  with  zeal  and  energy,  and  not  without 
tokens  of  success.  No  doubt  this  may  be  regarded  as 
a  further  stage  of  training  and  preparation  for  the 
work,  so  peculiarly  difficult  from  a  merely  human 
point  of  view,  which  the  providence  of  God  had  as- 
signed to  her.  From  Cawnpore  she  was  transferred 
to  Gonda,  where  for  twelve  months  she  taught  in  the 
Girls'  Boarding  School.  By  this  time  her  health  was 
seriously  undermined,  and  in  January,  1890,  she  re- 
turned to  America  in  search  of  renewed  strength  for 
further  service. 


II 

DISCOVERY   AND   DECISION 

It  was  while  resting  in  Cincinnati,  some  months 
after  her  return  from  India,  that  the  real  nature  of  her 
malady  was  revealed  to  Miss  Reed.  She  had  under- 
gone a  lengthy  course  of  treatment,  including  at  least 
one  operation,  but  without  the  hoped-for  restoration. 
Amongst  the  symptoms,  which  for  some  time  com- 
pletely baffled  her  physicians,  were  a  constant  tingling 
pain  in  the  forefinger  of  the  right  hand,  and  later,  a 
strange  spot  on  one  cheek,  near  the  ear.  Then  one 
day,  with  the  suddenness  of  a  flash,  and  the  certainty 
of  a  voice,  there  was  revealed  to  her,  not  only  the 
character  of  her  disease,  but  the  purpose  of  it.  Close 
upon  the  first  feeling  of  dismay  which  must  have  ac- 
companied so  terrible  a  discovery,  came  a  mental 
vision  of  the  hopeless  sufferers  among  the  Himalaya 
mountains.  It  was  borne  in  upon  her,  then  and  there, 
that  these  were  to  be  the  sheep  of  her  flock,  and  there 
was  to  be  the  sphere  of  her  future  labors.  After 
searching  such  medical  books  as  she  could  lay  her 
hands  upon,  she  confided  her  suspicions  to  her  physi- 
cian and  to  one  friend  (the  Cincinnati  Secretary  of  her 
Society).  Her  fears  were  confirmed  by  her  doctor, 
but  as  his  knowledge  of  the  disease  was  purely  theo- 
13 


14  Mary  Reed 

retical,  he  transferred  his  patient  to  New  York  as  soon 
as  she  was  fit  for  the  journey.  So  this  modern  martyr 
set  out  upon  her  via  dolorosa — her  pilgrimage  of  suf- 
fering and  isolation.  In  New  York,  she  was  examined 
by  a  specialist  who  had  studied  the  disease  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  His  verdict  confirmed  her  own 
conviction,  and  this  educated,  refined,  Christian 
woman  found  herself  face  to  face  with  the  appalling 
and  paralyzing  fact  that  she  had  fallen  a  victim  to 
leprosy — the  most  dreaded,  loathsome,  and  hopeless 
disease  known  to  mankind. 

Although  this  account  of  God's  dealings  with  her  is 
written  by  permission,  it  is  also  under  the  express  in- 
junction to  "say  not  one  word  in  praise  of  Mary 
Reed."  Nor  will  we  attempt  to  evade  that  restriction, 
but  we  will  here  invite  the  reader  to  unite  with  us  and 
with  her  in  admiring  and  extolling  the  Divine  Grace 
that  has,  from  the  first,  enabled  her  to  accept  this 
heavy  cross  with  entire  resignation,  and  to  say,  in  her 
own  words,  not  with  a  sigh,  but  with  a  song — ''Thy 
will  be  done." 

Desiring  to  spare  her  family  the  pain  the  sad  knowl- 
edge must  have  brought  to  them,  and  denying  herself 
the  motherly  sympathy  for  which  she  must  have 
yearned,  she  kept  them,  with  the  single  exception  of 
her  sister  Rena,  in  ignorance  of  what  had  befallen 
her.  "If  you  will  let  me  go  without  a  special  good- 
bye, as  though  I  were  returning  to-morrow,  it  will  be 
so  much  easier  for  me,"  she  said.  And  so,  self- 
debarred  from  even  a  farewell  kiss,  she  went  forth 
from  that  happy  home-circle  to  become  the  centre  and 


Discovery  and  Decision  15 

head  of  one  of  the  saddest  of  all  the  families  of  suffer- 
ing humanity. 

Arrived  in  India,  however,  it  became  apparent  to 
Miss  Reed  that  the  dear  ones  at  home,  for  whose  sakes 
she  was  prepared  to  suffer  in  silence,  must  shortly 
learn  the  sad  truth.  Accordingly,  from  Bombay  she 
wrote : 

"  After  prayerful  consideration,  I  find  it  wisest  and 
kindest  to  tell  you,  or  allow  dear,  brave-hearted  sister 
Rena,  with  whom  I  entrusted  this  mystery  of  God's 
Providence,  to  tell  you  what  she  pledged  to  keep  from 
you.  She  will  tell  you  how  our  loving  Heavenly 
Father,  who  is  'too  wise  to  err,'  has,  in  His  infinite 
love  and  wisdom,  chosen,  called,  and  prepared  your 
daughter  to  teach  lessons  of  patience,  endurance,  and 
submission,  while  I  shall  have  the  joy  of  ministering 
to  a  class  of  people  who,  but  for  the  preparation  which 
has  been  mine  for  this  special  work,  would  have  no 
helper  at  all ;  and  while  I  am  called  apart  among  these 
needy  creatures,  who  hunger  and  thirst  for  salvation, 
and  for  comfort  and  cheer,  He,  who  has  called  and 
prepared  me,  promises  that  He,  Himself,  will  be  to  me 
as  a  little  sanctuary  where  I  am  to  abide,  and  abiding 
in  Him,  I  shall  have  a  supply  of  all  my  need." 

Surely  the  Grace  of  God  shines  forth  here,  and  the 
strength  of  Christ  is  once  more  made  perfect  in  human 
weakness.  And  the  language  of  this  letter,  in  which 
is  revealed  the  view  she  was  enabled  to  take  of  her 
affliction,  is  but  the  keynote  of  all  her  letters.  Her 
confident  faith  in  the  presence  and  help  of  her  Saviour 
has   been    abundantly  justified.      Strengthened  with 


1 6  Mary  Reed 

might  by  His  Spirit,  she  has  been  enabled  to  say,  in 
the  words  of  one  of  her  favorite  hymns : 

No  chance  has  brought  this  ill  to  me, 
Tis  God's  sweet  will,  so  let  it  be ; 
He  seeth  what  I  cannot  see. 
There  is  a  need  be  for  each  pain, 
And  He  will  make  it  one  day  plain, 
That  earthly  loss  is  heavenly  gain. 


Ill 

THE   WAY   OF   THE    CROSS 

From  New  York  Miss  Reed  proceeded  to  London. 
She  brought  with  her  letters  of  introduction  to  two 
eminent  speciaHsts,  who  both  confirmed  the  decision 
of  the  American  physician.     During  her  brief  stay  in 
England,  she  was  thrown  into  contact  with  a  young 
countrywoman  of  her  own,   who  was,  moreover,  as 
Miss  Reed  had  been,   a  public  school-teacher  (from 
New  England)  and   an   earnest   Christian.     To   her 
were  permitted  some  days  of  close  intercourse  with 
this  devoted  sufferer  which  must  have  been  inspiring 
as  an  experience,  and  must  remain  precious  as  a  mem- 
ory.    I  have  the  advantage  of  quoting  from  an  ac- 
count  of  these   days,  written   by  this   sympathizing 
companion.     She  says  :    '^  I  wondered  instinctively  at 
the  ivory  pallor  of  that  sweet  face,  and  at  the  cruel 
spot  that  disfigured  it,  so  different  from  anything  I  had 
ever  seen.     I  wondered,  too,  as  the  days  went  by, 
why  the  forefinger,  always  covered  with  a  white  cot, 
refused  to  yield  to  healing  remedies."     Miss  Reed's 
suggestion  that  she  should  continue  her  journey  to- 
ward Brindisi,  in  the  company  of  the  small  party  of 
whom  her  friend  was  one,  was  readily  acceded  to,  al- 
though they  doubted   her  ability  to  travel  with  the 
17 


1 8  Mary  Reed 

rapidity  of  the  average  American  tourist,  which  was, 
perforce,  their  rate  of  progression. 

Grateful  as  her  sad  heart  was  for  this  sympathetic 
companionship,  so  grateful  that  she  said,  "I  think 
God  has  sent  you  here  in  answer  to  my  prayer,"  she 
did  not  yet  confide  the  knowledge  of  her  secret  sorrow 
to  her  friend.  What  a  pathos  the  circumstances  give 
to  their  visit  to  Canterbury  !  Centuries  had  passed 
since  the  last  leper  pilgrim  had  approached  the  tomb 
of  the  martyred  Becket.  Old  historians  have  minutely 
recorded  how  in  bygone  days  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  sufferers  from  this  terrible  scourge  made  their 
weary  way  hither  in  the  hope  of  being  healed.  But  if 
Mary  Reed  followed  in  the  far-off  steps  of  Henry  Le 
Pomerai,  the  wealthy  Norman  Knight,  of  the  noble 
kinsman  of  Roderick,  King  of  Connaught,  and  of  the 
long  procession  of  nameless  and  obscure  sufferers 
whose  knees  wore  away  the  stones  of  the  shrine,  it  was 
not  with  the  hope  of  leaving  behind  the  heavy  cross 
she  had  so  bravely  accepted.  May  we  not  say,  as  we 
believe  she  would  say,  that  some  better  thing  was  re- 
served for  her?  To  minister,  as  a  very  angel  of 
mercy,  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  her  fellow-sufferers 
with  a  sympathy,  and  with  a  success,  perhaps  only 
possible  to  one  similarly  afflicted,  will,  in  the  day  of 
the  <' Inasmuch,"  be  recognized  as  a  higher  good  than 
even  healing  would  have  been.  Describing  their  visit 
to  Canterbury,  Miss  Reed's  companion  writes  :  '^  Un- 
der the  smiling  English  skies  we  walked  up  to  St. 
Martin's,  the  little  church  whose  memories  go  back  at 
least   1,300   years.     Near   the   chancel,  the   English 


Willie  Russell  (a  Leper). 


The  Way  of  the  Cross  19 

lassie,  who  guided  us,  stopped,  and,  pointing  to  an 
opening  in  the  thick  wall,  said,  ''That  is  the  lepers' 
squint."  This  was  the  orifice  through  which  the 
poor  sufferers,  creeping  to  the  sanctuary  in  olden 
times,  were  allowed  to  listen  from  without  to  the 
words  of  life,  or  behold  what  they  could  of  the  wor- 
ship within.  If  I  had  known  then  what  I  knew  after- 
ward, my  heart  would  have  bled  for  the  woman  at 
my  side.  Calmly  she  stood  there  before  us  with  a 
heavenly  light  in  her  eyes,  not  a  muscle  of  her  face 
betraying  her  heart's  secret." 

During  one  of  their  hours  of  intimate  intercourse, 
this  friend,  still  unacquainted  with  the  true  motive  for 
Miss  Reed's  return  to  India,  ventured  to  question  the 
wisdom  of  such  a  course  in  view  of  her  evident  bodily 
weakness.  But  it  was  a  brave  reply  that  came  from 
the  quivering  lips  :  "  My  Father  knows  the  way  I  go, 
and  I  am  sure  it  is  the  right  way."  It  was  in  Paris 
that  this  sister,  whose  sympathy  had  been  so  sweet  to 
her  suffering  companion,  was  at  length  permitted  to 
share  her  sad  secret.  The  incident  is  best  described 
in  her  own  touching  words  : 

"  On  memory's  walls  there  will  hang  while  time  lasts 
for  me  the  picture  of  that  scene.  A  wax  taper  burned 
dimly  on  the  table  beside  her  open  Bible,  that  Book  of 
all  books  from  whose  pages  she  received  daily  consola- 
tion ;  and  while,  without,  Paris  was  turning  night  to 
day  with  light  and  music  and  wine,  within,  Mary 
Reed's  gentle  voice,  faltering  only  at  her  mother's 
name  and  coming  sorrow,  told  the  secret  of  her  afflic- 
tion. 


20  Mary  Reed 

*' As  my  throbbing  heart  caught  its  first  glimpse  of 
her  meaning,  I  covered  my  face  to  shut  out  the  swiftly 
rising  vision  of  her  future,  even  to  the  bitter  end,  and 
almost  in  agony  I  cried  out,  *  O,  not  that ! — do  not 
tell  me  that  has  come  to  you  ! '  And  when,  in  calmer 
moments,  I  said  that  every  Christian  ought  to  unite  in 
prayer  for  her  recovery,  her  only  response  was,  '  I 
have  not  yet  received  any  assurance  of  healing  \  per- 
haps I  can  serve  my  Father  better  thus.' 

"  I  come  with  sorrow  to  my  last  evening  with  Miss 
Reed.  I  sat  in  the  shadow,  and  she,  where  the  full 
moon  rising  over  the  snowy  mountains  just  touched, 
with  a  glory  that  loved  to  linger,  her  pale,  sweet  face. 
Again  I  hear  her  voice  in  song : 

*'  Straight  to  my  home  above, 
I  travel  calmly  on, 
And  sing  in  life  or  death, 
<  My  Lord,  Thy  will  be  done.' 

''And  with  the  anticipation  of  our  parting  on  the 
morrow,  she  told  me  of  her  last  hours  in  her  western 
home,  of  her  father's  farewell  breathed  out  in  his 
morning  prayer,  telling  the  All-Father  and  the  heart 
of  his  daughter  the  sorrow  that,  for  her  sake,  should 
be  repressed ;  how,  upheld  by  a  strength  not  her  own, 
she  went  out  as  if  some  day  she  might  return,  and 
then  hastened  on  to  the  land  of  her  exile. 

''On  the  shores  of  lovely  Lake  Lucerne,  hand 
clasped  in  hand  for  the  last  time  on  earth,  and  with 
eyes  blinded  by  gathering  tears,  our  farewell  was 
whispered  :   '  God  be  with  you  till  we  meet  again.'  " 


The  Way  of  the  Cross  21 

And  in  this  spirit  of  consecration,  and  with  the 
Christhke  resolve  that  her  affliction  should  not  hinder 
her  usefulness,  but  rather  triumphing  over  it,  she  went 
her  way,  alone,  yet  assuredly  not  alone,  returning  to 
India,  as  she  herself  had  said,  ''under  conditions  in 
which  no  other  missionary  ever  returned." 


IV 

APPOINTED   TO    CHANDAG 

In  September,  1891,  the  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India 
and  the  East  was  approached  on  behalf  of  Miss  Reed, 
with  a  view  to  finding  her  a  sphere  of  service  among 
her  fellow-sufferers.  A  letter  from  Bishop  Thoburn, 
the  Superintendent  in  India  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church,  first  informed  the  committee  of  this  new 
worker  who  had  been  so  strangely  consecrated,  but 
whose  name  was,  for  the  time  being,  withheld.  In 
writing  to  propose  that  Miss  Reed  be  appointed  Su- 
perintendent of  the  Asylum  at  Pithoragarh,  Bishop 
Thoburn  says :  "It  is  a  hard  thing  to  say,  and  yet  it 
does  look  as  if  Providence  was  sending  her  to  a  very 
needy  people  who  otherwise  could  receive  no  help. 
The  district  in  which  Pithoragarh  is  located,  that  is, 
Eastern  Kumaun,  has  more  lepers  in  proportion  to  its 
population  than  any  other  district  in  India ;  at  least, 
so  the  census  indicates.  It  is  a  mystery  how  she  ever 
contracted  the  disease.  She  accepts  her  fate  in  the 
best  possible  Christian  spirit,  and  feels  that  she  is  set 
apart  for  the  poor  creatures  who  are  similarly  afflicted 
in  Eastern  Kumaun." 

Shortly  after  this,  our  American  newspapers,  whose 
vigilance  no  private  sorrow  that  will  make  **copy" 
can  long  evade,  made  public  Miss  Reed's  name,  to- 
22 


Appointed  to  Chandag  23 

gether  with  such  particulars  as  could  be  collected  or 
invented.  A  deep  impression  was  created  on  the 
mind  of  the  Christian  public,  and  much  admiring 
sympathy  was  elicited. 

In  the  meantime,  while  waiting  the  decision  of  the 
committee,  Miss  Reed  found  a  welcome  resting-place 
at  Pithora  with  Miss  A.  M.  Budden,  who,  together 
with  her  sister  and  preceded  by  their  devoted  father, 
has  done  faithful  service  among  the  women,  the  chil- 
dren, and  the  lepers  of  that  district.  The  large  Leper 
Asylum  at  Almora,  founded  by  the  late  Sir  Henry 
Ramsey  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Budden,  still  stands 
as  a  memorial  to  the  faithful  services  of  these  two,  the 
Government  Administrator  and  the  Christian  Mission- 
ary, who  cooperated  in  its  establishment  and  in  its 
management  for  many  years.  From  Pithora,  under 
date  of  January  ist,  1892,  Miss  A.  M.  Budden  wrote 
to  Mr.  Wellesley  C.  Bailey,  Secretary  and  Superintend- 
ent of  the  Mission  to  Lepers  :  ''I  have  been  expect- 
ing to  hear  from  you  about  the  future  arrangements 
for  Miss  Reed,  who  has  come  for  shelter  to  Pithora 
as  being  the  only  place  in  the  world  that  would  shelter 
her.  You  will  have  heard  that  Miss  Reed  was  for 
five  years  in  this  country  as  a  Missionary  of  the 
Women's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  w^ent  home  in  utterly  broken 
health.  It  seems  now  that  this  complaint  was  coming 
on  for  some  time  before  she  left,  and  for  a  year  after 
she  arrived  in  America  it  was  not  suspected.  At  last 
the  Lord  Himself  revealed  it  to  her,  and  at  the  same 
time  told  her  that  Pithora  was  to  be  her  future  home. 


24  Mary  Reed 

and  that  He  had  much  work  for  her  to  do  among  those 
similarly  afflicted.  She  informed  the  doctors  of  the 
nature  of  her  complaint,  and  was  sent  by  her  own 
physician  to  see  an  expert  in  New  York  who  con- 
firmed her  suspicions,  and  she  was  hurried  out  of  the 
country  before  others  were  made  aware  of  her  com- 
plaint. She  saw  doctors  in  London  and  in  Bombay 
— the  doctor  of  the  Leprosy  Commission  in  the  latter 
place — and  all  agreed  that  there  was  no  doubt  about 
the  matter."  After  reference  to  the  terms  on  which 
the  charge  of  the  work  should  be  transferred  to  Miss 
Reed,  Miss  Budden  continues  :  ''  You  know  there  are 
more  than  500  lepers  in  the  Shor  Pargannah  alone, 
and  the  need  of  further  assistance  is  very  great.  At 
present  we  are  reducing  rather  than  increasing,  as  we 
do  not  fill  up  vacancies  caused  by  death — but  oh ! 
such  piteous  cases  as  have  to  be  refused.  After  hear- 
ing Miss  Reed's  account  of  the  wonderful  way  in 
which  the  Lord  revealed  His  will  to  her  about  her- 
self, and  about  Shor,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  day  for 
ample  help  to  these  poor  creatures  had  dawned,  and  I 
still  believe  it  has.  He  who  has  led  His  servant  by 
such  an  awful  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  to  come 
here  to  serve  Him  thus,  will  surely  touch  hearts  to 
supply  the  pecuniary  assistance  necessary  to  carry  out 
His  plans.  .  .  .  Miss  Reed  suffers  constantly  and 
most  patiently.  She  feels  that  she  has  had  her  life 
call  to  work  among  these  poor  creatures,  and,  I  be- 
lieve, will  end  her  days  among  them.  She  is  highly 
sensitive,  and  of  all  my  acquaintances  I  know  of  no 
one  who  would  naturally  more  loathe  this  complaint. 


Appointed  to  Chandag  25 

and  yet  to  her  it  has  been  given  !  It  is  very,  very 
wonderful,  and  so  is  His  grace  that  enables  her  to 
bear  it  without  a  murmur,  though  often  with  scalding 
tears  and  a  breaking  heart.  I  feel  it  to  be  a  special 
mark  of  my  Master's  favor  that  I  am  permitted  to  be 
the  one  to  shelter  and  care  for  her." 

The  sisterly  sympathy  so  fully  extended  to  Miss 
Reed  at  Pithora  must  have  been  one  of  the  allevia- 
tions of  her  lot,  and  a  welcome  sign  that,  in  hastening 
to  the  place  so  strongly  indicated  to  her  as  the  sphere 
of  her  future  service,  she  was  following  the  Divine 
leading. 

The  committee  were  glad  to  be  able  to  act  on  the 
recommendations  of  Bishop  Thoburn  and  Miss  Bud- 
den,  and  to  appoint  Miss  Reed  to  the  superintendence 
of  their  Asylum  for  Lepers  at  Chandag.  They  had 
the  satisfaction  of  affording  her  a  suitable  sphere  of 
service  and  at  the  same  time  of  providing  the  afflicted 
inmates  with  a  friend  who,  while  giving  them  the 
sympathy  and  the  succor  they  so  specially  needed, 
could  also  point  them  to  Him  who  gave  it  as  one  of 
the  proofs  of  His  divine  mission  that  the  lepers  were 
cleansed. 

In  penning  this  record  of  devoted  service  among 
those  from  whom  human  nature  would  instinctively 
shrink,  and  remembering  that  the  subject  of  our  nar- 
rative is  herself  most  sensitive  to  suffering,  and  would 
naturally  be  repelled  by  the  victims  of  this  terrible 
malady,  we  are  reminded  of  another  of  God's  true 
saints  who  made  the  lepers  his  special  care — St.  Francis 
of  Assisi.     In  Sabatier's  account  of  his  life  we  read  : 


26  Mary   Reed 

"  In  1205,  just  when  Francis  was  struggling  toward 
a  full  surrender  of  his  will  to  God,  and  an  entire  con- 
secration to  the  service  of  humanity,  he  was  one  day 
riding  out,  and  came  suddenly  face  to  face  with  a 
leper.  The  frightful  malady  had  always  inspired  in 
him  an  invincible  repulsion.  He  could  not  control  a 
movement  of  horror,  and  by  instinct  he  turned  his 
horse  in  another  direction.  He  soon  reproached  him- 
self bitterly.  Was  the  knight  of  Christ  then  going  to 
give  up  his  arms  ?  He  retraced  his  steps,  and,  spring- 
ing from  his  horse,  gave  to  the  astonished  sufferer  all 
the  money  he  had,  then  kissed  the  hand  of  the  leper 
as  he  would  have  done  that  of  a  priest.  This  new 
victory,  as  he  himself  saw,  marked  an  era  in  his 
spiritual  life." 

This  victory  of  Francis  over  the  repugnance  in- 
spired by  this  dread  disease  was  not  only  a  notable 
event  in  the  spiritual  life  of  this  holy  man,  but  marked 
the  beginning  of  a  new  era  for  the  lepers  of  Europe. 
The  brotherhood  into  which  the  followers  of  Francis 
were  organized,  following  the  Christlike  example  of 
their  founder,  made  the  lepers  their  special  care,  visit- 
ing regularly  the  many  lazarettos  then  to  be  found  in 
England  and  other  European  countries.  Francis  set 
an  example  of  personal  service,  often  of  the  most  re- 
pugnant kind,  amongst  these  sufferers,  which  the 
brothers  of  the  order  were  not  slow  to  follow,  and  it 
is  probable  that  from  this  period  the  lot  of  the  leper  in 
our  land  was  increasingly  alleviated  until,  happily,  the 
scourge  was  banished  from  our  shores. 


AMONG    THE   LEPERS 

"  Chandag  Heights,  the  beautiful,  in  the  Himalaya 
Mountains,"  is  the  address  from  which  Miss  Reed 
dates  a  letter  lying  before  me  as  I  write.  It  is  surely 
one  of  the  many  compensations  she  is  so  ready  to 
recognize  in  her  lot,  that  it  is  not  cast  in  the  sultry 
slums  of  an  Eastern  city,  but  amidst  scenes  of  natural 
beauty  which  are,  to  her  appreciative  nature,  a  source 
of  constant  enjoyment.  But  she  shall  describe  the 
prospect  in  her  own  words : 

''Away  to  the  north,  seemingly  only  two  or  three 
days'  journey,  are  the  eternal  snows  whose  grandeur 
and  sublimity  are  indescribable ;  they  are  so  pure  and 
bright  and  peace-suggestive  !  At  sunset  and  sunrise 
it  is  easy  to  imagine  them  visible  foundations  of  the 
Eternal  City,  they  are  lighted  up  with  such  a  halo  of 
glory.  But  it  is  of  the  mountains  among  which  I  live 
that  I  want  to  tell  you.  They  enclose  a  lovely  valley 
called  Shor,  like  a  massive  and  exquisitely  beautiful 
frame  around  a  magnificent  picture.  My  home  is  on 
the  crest  of  the  range  which  form's  the  western  bound- 
ary of  the  valley,  or  the  left  side  of  the  picture  frame. 
And  the  picture  !  A  rich  and  beautiful  valley,  con- 
taining about  six  square  miles,  lies  more  than  one 
thousand  feet  below  my  lofty  and  lovely  ''retreat," 
27 


28  Mary   Reed 

and  is  dotted  with  numerous  villages  which  are  sur- 
rounded by  clumps  of  trees  and  terraced  green  fields 
of  rice,  wheat,  and  other  grains.  Through  this  valley 
a  little  river  and  its  tributaries  wind  in  and  out,  and  a 
ridge  of  low  hills  divides  it,  while  almost  in  its  centre, 
situated  on  prominent  eminences,  are  the  Mission 
buildings  of  our  Methodist  Episcopal  Church." 

If  the  feelings  awakened  among  the  lepers  by  the 
advent  of  Miss  Reed  could  be  recorded,  the  account 
would  be  full  of  pathetic  interest.  We  know  that 
these  sorrowful  people  were  profoundly  touched  when 
they  understood  why  and  how  this  new  helper  had 
been  given  to  them.  Having  walked  up  from  Pithora 
— which  was  her  temporary  home  pending  the  prepara- 
tion of  her  own  bungalow  at  Chandag — to  hold  a  short 
service  with  the  lepers,  she  told  them  how  she  had 
been  set  apart  by  God  to  minister  among  them.  This 
announcement  deeply  affected  them,  and  tears  coursed 
down  many  cheeks  as  they  realized  the  suffering  and 
self-sacrifice  of  their  new  friend.  On  this  occasion, 
as  on  others  since,  they  seemed  to  forget  their  own 
affliction  in  their  loving  sympathy  for  hers. 

Her  own  little  residence  stands  on  the  crest  of  the 
hill,  some  6,400  feet  above  the  sea  level.  Eastward  it 
commands  a  charming  view  of  the  valley  in  which 
Pithoragarh  is  situated,  while  to  the  West  another 
valley  affords  a  lovely  prospect.  The  gifts  of  many 
friends  have  contributed  to  make  the  interior  of  her 
home  refined,  comfortable,  and  even  artistic,  and  she 
greatly  prizes  her  **  picture  gallery,"  as  she  terms  the 
extensive  collection   of  photographs  with  which  her 


< 

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< 

< 
C/5 


O 

o 


Among  the  Lepers  29 

rcx)ms  are  adorned.  Music  is  a  joy  to  her,  and  an 
organ,  presented  by  a  sympathizing  friend,  is  a  source 
of  constant  pleasure  to  one  to  whom  praise  is  a  daily 
delight. 

One  of  her  earliest  European  visitors,  the  Rev.  G. 
M.  Bulloch  (of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  Al- 
mora)  affords  us  an  interesting  glimpse  of  Miss  Reed 
in  the  fulfillment  of  her  ministry  of  mercy.  • '  We 
reached  Chandag  Heights,"  he  writes,  "early  on  Fri- 
day morning,  and  found  dear  Miss  Reed  busy  in  the 
hospital,  tending  three  patients  in  a  much  advanced 
stage  of  leprosy.  She  was  binding  up,  with  her  own 
hands,  the  terrible  wounds,  and  speaking  soothing 
words  of  comfort  to  these  poor  distressed  ones.  It 
has  always  been  a  trial  to  her  to  witness  suffering  in 
others,  yet  she  is  most  devoted  in  her  attentions,  and 
so  gentle  and  kind.  We  were  very  much  surprised 
and  pleased  to  find  her  so  active  and  cheerful,  and 
looking  so  well.  She  told  us  she  had  never  felt  better 
in  health,  more  cheerful  in  spirits,  nor  happier  in  serv- 
ice than  she  does  now."  .  .  .  (This  is)  '*  not  the 
result  of  any  medical  treatment  she  has  adopted,  as 
she  gave  up  all  treatment  of  that  sort  under  a  strong 
sense  that  God  only  required  of  her  faith  in  Him  and 
in  His  heaHng  power." 

Lest  any  reader  should  be  tempted  to  regard  this  as 
fanaticism  or  unpractical  sentiment,  let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  Miss  Reed  gladly  uses,  for  her  flock,  what- 
ever remedies  she  considers  likely  to  alleviate  their 
sufferings.  Her  faith  is  for  herself  rather  than  for 
others  in  this  respect.     Moreover,  it  is  doing  her  the 


30  Mary  Reed 

merest  justice  to  say  that  she  is  eminently  gifted  with 
sound  judgment  and  business  ability.  The  work  she 
has  been  able  to  accomplish  in  less  than  eight  years 
would  not  be  readily  paralleled  in  the  records  of  mis- 
sionaries working  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  health. 
Single-handed,  or  at  most  with  a  limited  supply  of 
native  assistance,  she  has  developed  the  institution 
under  her  charge  from  a  mere  collection  of  huts  and 
stables,  in  which  some  thirty-seven  lepers  were  housed, 
to  an  establishment  with  an  average  of  eighty-five  or 
ninety  inmates,  sheltered  in  substantial  houses  specially 
erected  for  them.  This  has  involved  the  acquisition 
of  at  least  two  considerable  additions  of  land,  the  sur- 
mounting of  legal  and  other  difficulties,  the  arranging 
of  various  building  contracts,  the  supervision  of  native 
workmen,  and  the  control  of  the  finances  as  well  as 
the  food  requirements  of  her  large  and  growing  family. 
When  to  these  are  added  the  spiritual,  moral,  and 
medical  supervision  of  the  hopeless  and  ofttimes  help- 
less beings  around  her,  we  have  here  surely  a  tale  of 
work  and  a  load  of  responsibility  to  tax  the  strongest. 
And  yet  it  has  been  successfully  accomplished  by 
Divine  help  ifi  answer  to  daily  prayer,  as  she  herself 
would  be  the  first  to  testify. 

It  is  therefore  from  no  feeling  of  unpractical  fanati- 
cism that  remedies  are  dispensed  with  in  her  own  case, 
but  rather  from  the  deep  conviction  that  even  this 
affliction  is  in  the  line  of  the  Divine  will  for  her.  As 
fro7n  God's  hand  she  received  it,  so  in  God's  hand 
she  leaves  it.  About  this  time  Miss  Reed  herself 
wrote : 


Among  the  Lepers  31 

*'  The  disease  made  most  decided  progress  for  six 
months  after  my  arrival  at  this  mountain  retreat,  and  I 
suffered  intense  pain  most  of  the  time.  But  I  found 
His  grace  sufficient.  The  everlasting  arms  are  under- 
neath, upholding  and  keeping  me  trustful,  and  I  find 
the  love  of  Jesus  adequate  consolation,  soothing  and 
cheering  my  heart." 

"  There  are  briers  besetting  every  path, 

AMiich  call  for  patient  care ; 
There  is  a  cross  in  every  lot, 

And  an  earnest  need  for  prayer ; 
But  a  lowly  heart  that  leans  on  Thee, 

Is  happy  anywhere." 

"  Oh,  Master,  dear  !  the  tiniest  work  for  Thee, 
Finds  recompense  beyond  our  highest  thought, 
And  feeble  hands  that  worked  but  tremblingly. 
The  richest  colors  in  Thy  fabric  wrought ! " 

"I  am  sure  His  love,  His  wisdom,  and  His  power 
are  at  work.  Words  are  empty  to  tell  of  a  love  like 
His,  He  has  enabled  me  to  say,  not  with  a  sigh  but 
with  a  song,  <  Thy  will  be  done.'  As  God  will.  The 
end  may  come,  and  that  to-morrow,  when  He  has 
wrought  His  will  in  me." 

Quoting  from  Ruskin,  she  continues:  "In  our 
whole  life-melody  the  music  is  broken  off  here  and 
there  by  '  rests, '  and  we  foolishly  think  we  have  come 
to  the  end  of  the  tune.  God  sends  a  time  of  forced 
leisure,  a  time  of  sickness  and  disappointed  plans,  and 
makes  a  sudden  pause  in  the  choral  hymn  of  our  lives, 
and  we  lament  that  our  voices  must  be  silent  and  oirr 


32  Mary   Reed 

part  missing  in  the  music  which  ever  goes  up  to  the 
ear  of  the  Creator.  .  .  .  Not  without  design  does 
God  write  the  music  of  our  Hves.  Be  it  ours  to  learn 
the  tune  and  not  be  dismayed  at  the  'rests.'  If  we 
look  up,  God  will  beat  the  time  for  us." 


VI 


TRIALS   AND   TRIUMPHS 
(1894) 

The  most  definite  impression  of  Miss  Reed's  life 
and  work  among  the  lepers  will  be  conveyed  by  quo- 
tations from  her  own  letters.  For  the  large  number 
of  these  placed  at  my  disposal  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wellesley  C.  Bailey,  I  beg  to  express  my  sincere 
thanks.  In  every  instance  where  it  is  not  otherwise 
indicated,  the  extracts  from  Miss  Reed's  letters  are 
from  her  correspondence  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bailey. 

October  9th,  1893.  ''Blessed  be  the  Lord  because 
He  hath  heard  the  voice  of  my  supplications.  .  .  . 
My  heart  trusted  in  Him  and  I  am  helped ;  therefore 
my  heart  greatly  rejoiceth." — Psalm  xxviii.  6,  7. 

''  This  is  a  Hindoo  holiday,  therefore  a  vacation  in 
the  half-dozen  schools  under  my  care,  and  the  small 
army  of  men  who  have  been  working  on  the  boundary- 
wall,  as  well  as  the  fifteen  or  sixteen  haymakers,  have 
taken  '  a  day  off. '  As  I  need  not  therefore  give  my 
thoughts  and  attention  to  the  work  of  the  carpenters 
and  coolies  at  work  on  the  hospital  and  men's  barracks, 
I  hope  to  be  able  to  satisfy  your  longing  about  some 
of  the  things  I  imagine  you  are  wanting  to  know. 
.  .  .  Yes,  I  am  more  and  more  satisfied  with 
knowing  that  each  moment  of  suffering,  both  mental 
and  physical  allotted  by  the  dear  hand  of  God,  is 
33 


34  Mary  Reed 

working  out  His  will  in  and  through  this  poor,  frail 
instrument.  I  am  comforted  that  not  one  unkind 
thing  can  be  done  or  said  but  by  His  permission.  My 
times  are  in  His  hand,  whatever  they  may  be. 

"Two  weeks  ago  I  would  have  said,  had  I  been 
writing  you,  that  not  one  was  left  out  of  the  fold,  for 
to  my  joy,  the  last  one  of  the  seven  unbaptized  ones 
requested  baptism,  and  upon  questioning  him,  I  found 
him  much  better  prepared  than  I  supposed  he  could 
have  been  in  the  few  months'  teaching  given  him. 
But  since  that  service,  two  weeks  ago,  four  new  pa- 
tients have  been  admitted,  and  we  now  number  fifty- 
seven — not  a  great  number,  but  they  require  much 
care  and  prayer,  much  teaching,  training,  and  nurs- 
ing. But  I  am  richly  rewarded  for  all  I  can  possibly 
do  for  them.  In  addition  to  my  duties  here  in  the 
Asylum,  I  now  have  six  village  schools,  three  Sunday- 
schools,  and  six  pupils  in  their  homes  in  the  village. 
I  am  to  visit  three  of  the  schools  every  week  and  the 
homes  every  week.  In  order  to  reach  all  the  schools, 
I  must  ride,  walk,  and  climb  steeps  a  total  distance  of 
forty  miles,  and  superintend  the  teaching  of  two  hun- 
dred boys  and  girls,  as  well  as  teach  the  teachers  how 
to  teach.  I  enjoy  the  work,  though  it  is  wearing  in 
addition  to  all  else  I  find  to  do." 

December  nth,  1893.  ''Our  numbers  have  not 
greatly  increased  this  year,  only  eighty  having  been 
enrolled — fifteen  of  whom  have  gone  away  because  I 
could  not  conscientiously  give  them  leave  to  go  and 
come  at  their  own  will,  nor  as  often  as  they  wished  to 
visit  their  relatives.     Their  relatives  visit  them  quite 


Trials  and  Triumphs  35 

frequently,  and  it  seems  to  me  decidedly  unadvisable 
to  permit  them  to  endanger  their  friends  by  remaining 
for  weeks  in  their  own  homes.  Seven  have  been  bap- 
tized on  profession  of  faith  in  Christ,  whom  they  have 
learned  to  love.  Of  the  fifty-nine  now  with  us,  all 
but  six  are  Christians,  and  a  goodly  number  of  them 
give  clear  evidence  of  a  deep  experience  of  God's 
saving  and  keeping  power.  Gentleness,  patience,  and 
peace,  are  now  manifest  in  the  lives  of  some  who,  one 
year  ago,  were  unhappy  and  so  quarrelsome  that  I 
was  often  called  several  times  daily  to  settle  differ- 
ences. Individual  care  for  each  one,  in  addition  to 
the  power  of  the  sweet  Gospel,  adds  so  much  to  the 
brightness  and  hope  it  brings  into  their  lives.  Human 
kindness  and  love  seem  to  make  them  to  realize  so 
much  more  clearly  our  Father's  love,  that  my  heart  is 
often  filled  with  inexpressible  joy  because  of  the  ten- 
der mercy  He  has  shown  me  in  permitting  me,  in 
Jesus'  name,  to  minister  to  these  my  fellow-sufferers. 
He  owns  and  blesses  the  lessons  taught,  and  I  have 
some  precious  meetings  in  which  earnest  prayers  and 
intelligent  testimony  are  given.  Some  have  found 
their  way  to  the  Home  of  Many  Mansions,  six  having 
died  during  the  year.  Truly  this  has  been  a  year  of 
lengthening  of  cords  and  strengthening  of  stakes  of 
this  beautiful  retreat,  and,  during  the  coming  year,  I 
pray  and  hope  that  the  two  new  buildings  recently 
completed  may  be  occupied  by  another  fifty  of  the 
more  than  four  hundred  who  are  living  within  a  radius 
of  ten  miles  of  us,  and  who  ought  to  come  and  share 
the  comforts  and  blessings  so  much  appreciated  by  the 


36  Mary   Reed 

patients  now  here.  The  village  and  school  work  I 
have  in  addition  to  my  special  work  here,  involves 
such  a  large  amount  of  wear  and  tear  that,  sometimes, 
I  am  very  weary,  and  now  is  one  of  those  times  when 
I  feel  worn  and  hurried.  Pray  for  me  that  I  may  be 
the  better  fitted  for  all  the  duties  and  privileges  that 
may  come  to  me  with  the  new  year." 

On  New  Year's  Day,  1894,  we  have  a  glimpse  of 
some  of  the  external  difficulties  of  Miss  Reed's  work : 

*'  The  villagers  are  giving  trouble  about  water,  and 
I  don't  wonder,  for  I  myself  think  we  ought  to  have  a 
well  instead  of  using  water  from  a  stream  from  which 
others  must  drink.  There  is  no  water  on  the  premises 
here,  but  on  the  new  land  there  is  a  good  prospect  for 
a  good  well  just  inside  our  wall.  I  need  a  wall  round 
the  garden  and  one  around  my  fowl-house,  as  the 
jackals,  porcupines,  and  other  wild  animals,  destroy 
almost  all  the  vegetables,  and  have  carried  off  more 
fowls  than  I  use,  and  I  find  it  difficult  to  live  without 
vegetables,  eggs,  and  chickens." 

On  April  4th  we  hear  further  as  to  the  water  supply : 

''Now  about  that  well.  Since  writing  you  I  have 
made  a  discovery.  Finding  such  a  bed  of  rocks  near 
the  proposed  site  for  the  well,  I  feared  to  risk  spend- 
ing the  amount  needed  to  experiment  in  digging 
through  to  the  fountain,  which  I  am  sure  lies  under 
this  rocky  surface,  lest  the  money  thus  used  be  wasted. 
So  I  set  out  upon  another  search  for  water,  and  to  my 
surprise  found  upon  some  waste  land  belonging  to 
Government,  a  strong  spring,  within  half  a  mile  of  our 
boundary  wall.     It  lies  in  a  deep  ravine  in  an  out-of- 


Trials  and  Triumphs  37 

the-way  place,  hence  my  failure  to  find  it  before.  It 
sends  forth  a  good  volume  of  excellent  water,  and  by 
skillful  engineering  I  think  the  water  can  be  brought 
around  the  brow  of  the  hill,  conveying  it  through 
troughs  and  ditches  into  our  own  grounds.  So  this 
very  week  I  am  setting  men  to  work  to  make  the 
troughs  and  ditches.  ...  I  am  very  busy  get- 
ting ready  to  leave  home  this  week  to  attend  a  great 
mela  at  Thall  on  the  Ram-gunga,  a  river  up  among 
the  mountains — two  days'  journey  from  Shor.  I  hope 
to  induce  a  goodly  number  of  my  fellow -sufferers  to 
return  home  with  me." 

The  result  of  this  visit,  which  was  somewhat  disap- 
pointing, is  given  in  the  next  letter : 

''For  various  reasons  given  by  persons  of  whom  I 
enquired,  the  mela  was  not  attended  by  the  great 
throng  of  worshippers  who  have  been  wont  to  resort  to 
this  noted  place  annually.  A  native  official  told  me 
that  not  one-eighth  of  the  usual  number  were  present. 
I  do  not  think  there  were  more  than  1,000  or  1,200  in 
all,  and  among  that  number  I  found  but  four  patients 
who  returned  with  us.  My  faithful  servants  made  a 
thorough  canvass  of  the  crowds  to  satisfy  my  heart 
that  none  should  be  missed.  Had  we  but  found  and 
brought  in  ojie,  I  should  have  felt  repaid  for  the  jour- 
ney. There  are  now  just  seventy  patients  in  this  beau- 
tiful retreat  at  Chandag." 

The  following  extract  is  from  a  letter  dated  August 
i8th: 

"There  are  at  present  sixty-four  patients  in  the 
Asylum,  of  whom  thirty  are  men,  twenty-five  women, 


38  Mary  Reed 

seven  boys  and  two  girls.  Of  this  number  forty-nine 
are  Christians,  and  fifteen  non-Christians.  There 
have  been  but  two  baptisms  this  year.  I  do  not  urge 
or  ask  baptism ;  when  hearts  are  made  new,  and  the 
light  of  the  Son  of  Righteousness  shines  in  they  will 
ask  for  this  rite.  We  hear  from  every  direction  that 
the  many  around  us  who  ought  to  be  here  in  the 
Asylum  are  not  willing  to  come  because  of  the  Chris- 
tian influence  exercised.  For  this  reason  our  num- 
bers are  not  increasing  as  rapidly  as  I  hoped  they 
would.  I  want  to  spend  much  of  my  time  in  the  dis- 
trict, going  out  to  call  them  in  as  soon  as  the  rains  are 
over  after  the  middle  of  September.  May  I  request 
special  prayers  for  these  in  the  district,  that  their  hearts 
may  be  turned  to  this  Refuge,  and  that  all  who  enter 
may  find  Christ  as  their  Saviour.  Pray  that  I  may 
have  wisdom,  tact,  and  love  according  to  my  need  as 
I  go  out  to  urge  them  to  come  in.  I  myself  have 
some  weary  and  most  trying  days  physically  now  and 
again,  though  on  the  whole  my  health  is  a  marvel  to 
me.  The  good  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  and  it 
holds  me  still,  and  I  trust,  and  am  not  afraid  of  what 
the  future  may  bring.  I  am  so  thankful  for  the  won- 
derful degree  of  good  health  He  gives  and  for  the 
blessed  privilege  I  have  of  serving  Him  who  is  dearer 
to  me  than  hfe." 

Under  date  October  27th,  Miss  Reed  speaks  of 
some  of  the  trials  of  her  work  : 

"  .  .  .  experiences  some  of  which  would  have 
been  heartbreaking  did  not  He  uphold  me,  whose  I 
am,  and  whom  I  serve.     My  flock  has  been  the  prey 


Trials  and  Triumphs  39 

of  Satan's  wiles,  and  some  of  my  precious  ones  have 
followed  his  leading  and  gone  out  into  lives  of  sin. 
My  heart  was  so  rent  and  torn  and  I  was  so  weary — 
not  of,  but  in  the  work,  which  taxes  my  strength 
physically — when  the  way  was  opened  for  me  to  go 
away  for  a  month  for  rest  and  change  on  a  visit  with 
some  of  my  dear  old  Missionary  friends  at  Naini  Tal. 
.  .  ,  I  was  absent  from  my  post  three  weeks  and 
a  half,  travelling  over  the  mountains,  camping  in  my 
cozy  little  tent.  The  visit  did  me  a  world  of  good. 
Since  my  return  I  find  the  work  piled  up,  waiting  for 
me,  and  I  am  busy  from  dawn  to  dusk,  and  my  heart 
is  heavily  burdened  for  the  souls  committed  to  my 
care.  Oh,  please  pray  for  them  earnestly,  that  they 
may  be  made  free  from  the  bondage  of  sin." 

In  a  long  and  interesting  letter  dated  November  3d, 
1894,  Miss  Reed  writes  : 

''  I  began  this  letter  before  sunrise,  and  while  sitting 
at  my  eastern  window  writing  to  you,  the  sun  rose  in 
splendor  over  the  majestic  mountains,  lighting  them  up 
with  a  halo  of  glory.  The  magnificent  views  I  have 
of  the  eternal  snows  and  of  the  beautiful  forest-clad 
heights  are  a  never-ceasing  delight  to  me.  Pray  for 
me,  please,  that  my  soul's  life  maybe  strengthened  by 
the  lessons  and  thoughts  suggested  by  these  glorious 
works  of  God  which  lie  about  me.  Did  ever  mortal 
woman  need  more  the  lessons  and  help  to  be  found  in 
comrnunion  wath  nature  and  nature's  God  than  this 
dweller  on  these  heights  here,  for  all  around  me  are 
not  only  pain  and  sorrow,  but  what  is  a  thousand 
times  worse,  sin^ 


40  Mary   Reed 

This  letter  contains  an  account  of  the  moral  lapses 
of  some  of  her  inmates  which  caused  Miss  Reed  much 
sorrow,  and  led  her  to  realize  the  need  of  more  com- 
plete separation  of  the  men  from  the  women  which  has 
since  been  carried  out.  But  the  year  closes  with  a 
note  of  praise  for  penitents  restored.  Thus,  on  De- 
cember 15  th,  we  find  a  letter  saying : 

*'One  object  I  have  in  writing  to-day  is  the  joy  of 
telling  you  that  God  is  graciously  answering  my 
prayers  and  is  pouring  out  His  spirit  upon  my  dear 
people  once  more.  Humbled,  repentant  hearts  are 
receiving  forgiveness,  and  being  melted  into  love,  and 
the  atmosphere  of  peace  pervading  the  last  meeting 
we  had  gave  such  sweet  rest  to  my  tired  heart.  The 
Angels,  I  know,  have  rejoiced  over  some  of  the  wan- 
derers who  so  grieved  the  dear  Lord,  but  have  now 
''come  home"  to  Him  (and  to  their  mother-friend). 
Praise  His  name  forever  !  !  " 


VII 


PRAISE   AND   PROGRESS 

(1895) 

In  the  letters  of  this  year  we  are  not  surprised  to 
come  upon  occasional  references  to  wakeful  nights, 
as  well  as  physical  weariness  and  nervous  strain ;  the 
matter  for  wonder  is  that  such  references  are  so  few 
and  so  casual.  The  prevailing  notes  are  those  of  hope 
and  praise,  notwithstanding  the  inevitable  difficulties 
of  such  a  work — difficulties  arising  through  inexperi- 
enced assistants  and  troublesome  inmates,  together 
with  the  labor  involved  in  the  extension  of  the  Institu- 
tion and  the  daily  supervision  of  the  affairs  and  inter- 
ests of  the  little  community  over  which  Miss  Reed  has 
been  called  to  preside,  in  addition  to  her  general  mis- 
sion work. 

Although  the  first  hurried  letter  of  this  year  speaks 
of  "the  great  hinderer "  being  busy  among  her 
afflicted  flock,  the  next  is  full  of  thanksgiving  : 

*'  Oh  that  I  knew  how  to  express  the  gratitude  my 
h&zxt  feels  for  the  prompt  responses  you  always  give  to 
my  appeals  in  times  of  need  in  the  work  so  dear  to 
you  and  to  me.  Words  of  mine  fail  to  convey  my 
appreciation  of  the  loving-kindness  and  help  so  gener- 
ously and  promptly  bestowed,  and  so  I  console  myself 
with  this  thought  :  '  In  the  grand  leisure  of  eternity 
41 


42  Mary   Reed 

we  shall  have  freedom  of  expression,  and  then  we 
shall  be  able  to  recount  the  mercies  and  blessings  with 
which  our  loving  Master  crowns  our  lives  here  !  '  " 

At  a  later  date,  after  expressing  her  concern  at  the 
"tiny  old  mud-houses  "  in  which  her  faithful  servants 
— ("to  whom  I  am  much  attached  ") — have  to  live, 
we  have  the  following  warm  expressions  of  gratitude  : 

"I  did  not  expect  to  have  my  request  granted  so 
soon  !  That  is  practical  sympathy  and  codperation  in 
earnest.  The  prompt  responses  you  always  make  en- 
courage and  strengthen  my  heart,  but  never  have  I 
been  so  cheered  and  rested  as  by  the  last  two  letters, 
with  their  enclosures.  God  is  indeed  good  to  me  in 
permitting  me  to  share  in  this  blessed  work  with  you 
for  Him." 

On  March  i6th  she  writes  of  that  which  is  ever 
uppermost  in  her  thoughts,  as  it  is  foremost  in  the  ob- 
jects of  the  Mission,  viz,  the  conversion  of  the  lepers 
to  Christ : 

"I  can  only  tell  you  to-day  that  my  heart  is  filled 
with  joy  this  week,  because  of  the  presence  and  guid- 
ance of  Him  whose  blessing  is  so  manifestly  upon  the 
work  given  us  for  Him  here.  A  goodly  number  of 
the  people  who  came  into  the  Asylum  last  year  are 
now  coming  into  the  fold  of  our  Blessed  Redeemer. 
Some  most  interesting  and  precious  experiences  am  I 
having  with  them  nowadays.  Two  baptisms  last 
Sunday,  and  several  to  receive  the  rite  to-morrow  or 
next  day.  Seven  or  eight  more  have  requested  bap- 
tism, but  I  fear  all  are  not  fully  ready,  so  I  will  only 
present  those  who  appear  to  be  really  prepared." 


Praise  and  Progress  43 

The  next  letter  reports  substantial  progress  as  re- 
gards the  material  side  of  the  work.  Details  are 
given  of  the  acquisition  of  five  or  six  acres  of  land 
for  the  erection  of  new  quarters,  especially  for  the 
male  inmates,  as  well  as  of  the  happy  provision  of  an 
abundant  supply  of  good  water  for  the  exclusive  use 
of  the  Institution — in  itself  a  very  great  boon. 

"You  will  remember  that  not  one  spring  is  to  be 
found  on  all  the  land  we  (formerly)  possessed,  but 
now  I  feel  we  have  all  we  need ;  and  this  building  site 
and  location  is  just  what  we  require.  I  wish  I  could 
write  you  more  fully,  but  my  hand  cramps,  and  I 
must  leave  off  for  to-day.  I  have  great  rest  and  peace 
in  my  heart  over  the  whole  affair.  God's  guiding 
hand  and  His  smile  of  blessing  are  so  consciously 
upon  all  that  concerns  us  here  this  year  that  my  heart 
is  filled  with  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  Him." 

As  showing  how  narrow  is  the  margin  between  "just 
enough  "  and  "partial  famine  "  in  India,  we  give  the 
following  extract  from  a  letter  of  June  6th,  1895  : 

"  Many,  many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  with  first 
of  Exchange  received  to-day.  While  I  am  always 
grateful  for  the  prompt  and  generous  help  you  freely 
give  us  in  this  far  away  Retreat,  this  remittance  is 
doubly  precious  since  a  partial  famine  has  raised  the 
price  of  grain  until,  now,  for  one  rupee  we  get  only 
half  as  much  rice  and  wheat  as  at  this  time  last  year, 
and  it  is  only  with  much  difficulty  we  can  get  any  at 
any  price  nowadays.  And  yet  my  poor  people  have 
never  had  to  go  hungry  once,  while  hundreds  all  about 
us  are  suffering  from  hunger." 


44  Mary   Reed 

To  American  friends  and  helpers  Miss  Reed  re- 
ports in  the  following  interesting  letter,  dated  April 
6th,  1895  : 

"If  there  be  therefore  any  consolation  in  Christ,  if 
any  comfort  of  love,  if  any  fellowship  of  the  Spirit 
.  .  .  fulfill  ye  my  joy  that  ye  be  like-minded,  hav- 
ing the  same  love.     Phil.  ii.  i,  2. 

''  To  my  dear  helpers-together  by  prayer  and  love  : 
I  have  been  blessedly  conscious,  during  the  past  three 
years,  of  a  fellowship  of  hearts  and  an  atmosphere  of 
love  and  prayer  surrounding  me  because  of  the  many 
prayers  ascending  from  hearts  in  whom  Christ  dwells, 
for  this  one  of  His  little  ones.  Many  dear  brothers 
and  sisters,  with  whom  I  have  otherwise  had  no  com- 
munication, have  stood  with  me ;  there  has,  indeed, 
been  to  me  a  deep  and  real  meaning  in  the  words  of 
the  text  at  the  head  of  this  letter. 

**In  answer  to  prayer,  scenes  of  sadness  are  changed 
to  those  of  gladness,  and  I  do  not  need  to  draw  out 
rejoicings  and  praise;  they  just  flow  out.  Every 
token  of  love  from  earthly  friends  is  to  me  a  sweet 
symbol  of  our  Father's  love ;  a  pledge  of  His  love  to 
me  and  to  each  individual  in  whose  heart  He  has 
prompted  the  desires  that  find  beautiful  expression  in 
letters  and  useful  and  lovely  gifts.  For  however 
bright  and  beautiful  the  gifts  received  are,  the  bright- 
est part  is  His  giving  hand.  In  some  ways  God  seems 
to  be  doing  for  me  even  more  than  He  promised,  not 
only  in  supplying  my  needs,  but  so  many  of  my  *  no- 
tions *  as  well. 

*'Time  is  valuable  capital  to  us  here.     Were  my 


Praise  and  Progress  45 

hands,  heart,  and  time  not  so  filled  with  duties,  and 
did  I  not  have  writer's  cramp  these  days,  how  gladly 
would  I  reply  to  each  and  all  the  kind  and  precious 
letters  received,  and  thus  gratify  my  longings  to  ac- 
knowledge in  private  letters  the  pretty  and  useful  gifts 
received  during  the  past  few  months.  But  my  heart 
is  full  of  loving  gratitude  for  all  loving  kindnesses, 
thoughtfulness,  and  prayers. 

"  The  flowers  and  garden  seeds,  nearly  half  a 
bushel  of  them,  make  these  mountain-tops  and  valleys 
blossom  and  yield  abundant  fruit  in  more  than  one 
sense.  Tell  the  dear  children  I  have  shared  the  seeds 
with  at  least  a  half-dozen  of  our  native  Christian 
families  who  live  in  villages  from  ten  to  twenty  miles 
from  Pithoragarh.  They  will  bring  brightness  not 
only  to  my  poor,  dear  people  here  at  Chandag 
Heights,  but  other  mountain-tops  and  valleys  are 
made  glad  as  well.  The  bandages  prepared  in  such 
generous  quantities  are  most  gratefully  utilized,  and 
my  poor  patients  much  appreciate  the  care  and  com- 
fort given.     May  I  hope  for  a  new  supply  this  year  ? 

"For  the  comfort  of  the  dear,  interested  friends 
who  have  not  read  my  report  for  '94,  I  must  add  that 
there  is  in  mission  work,  as  in  other  things,  an  ebb 
and  flow  of  trials  and  blessings,  and  the  tide  turned 
at  the  beginning  of  this  year  in  blessings.  Praise 
Him  who  is  peace,  strength,  hope,  and  '  shelter  in  the 
time  of  storm  *  for  all  those  who  put  their  trust  in  Him. 

"  On  New  Year's  Day  my  heart  was  rejoiced  by  the 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  the  Society  in  Great  Britain 
under  whose  auspices  I  have  been  so  signally  called  to 


46  Mary   Reed 

work,  granting  my  request  for  permission  and  means 
to  purchase  more  land  and  erect  a  branch  asylum  for 
our  men  and  boys  of  the  Institution  at  some  distance 
from  the  place  now  occupied  by  them.  Most  provi- 
dentially have  I  been  guided  in  selecting  and  buying 
a  beautiful  site  adjoining  our  property,  fully  one-fourth 
of  a  mile  distant  from  the  house  of  my  women  and 
girls.  You  see  from  this  that  our  domain  is  not  a  very 
limited  one.  I  desire  you  to  realize  more  fully  how 
God  has  sweetly  and  lovingly  smiled  upon  us  and  en- 
abled us  to  '  lengthen  the  cords  and  strengthen  the 
stakes  '  from  year  to  year. 

'<  This  year  more  is  being  accomplished  than  in  any 
of  the  three  years  past.  In  a  few  weeks  seven  more 
new  buildings  will  be  completed ;  three  of  these  are 
now  in  the  process  of  erection,  and  the  other  four  will 
be  well  under  way  before  this  letter  reaches  you. 
These,  when  completed,  will  provide  accommodation 
for  eighty  people.  In  the  buildings  now  occupied, 
seventy-eight  are  living  in  comparative  comfort,  feel- 
ing quite  at  home,  and  most  of  them  are  very  grate- 
ful for  the  comforts  provided  by  our  dear  Lord's  good 
stewards  and  caretakers. 

"  Now  I  must  add  a  few  words  of  assurance  to  re- 
lieve your  dear,  anxious  hearts  concerning  my  health. 
I  would  that  you  could  realize  how  wonderfully  well  I 
am.  My  general  health  has  never  been  so  good  as 
during  the  past  two  and  a  half  years.  And  as  for  the 
dread  malady  which  did  cause  me  indescribable  suf- 
fering until  I  made  my  body  and  the  care  of  my 
health  over  to  the  Great  Physician,  there  are  only  the 


Praise  and  Progress  47 

faintest  traces ;  the  marks  have  become  nearly  invisi- 
ble. They  have  always  been  to  me  like  the  borings  of 
the  ears  of  the  Hebrew  servants.     (See  Ex.  xxi.  1-6.) 

"  I  will  close  with  extracts  from  a  letter  written  by 
dear  Miss  Budden  to  my  precious  mother  a  few  weeks 
ago ;  this  will  help  you  to  realize  more  fully  how  well 
I  am.  She  says  :  '  I  have  been  up  to  see  your  Mary 
to-day,  and  we  had  more  than  one  hearty  laugh.  I  am 
sure  had  you  been  there  you  would  have  found  more 
cause  for  thankfulness  than  sorrow.  The  improve- 
ment in  her  condition  is  nothing  short  of  a  miracle ; 
those  of  us  who  have  known  her  intimately  for  the 
past  three  years  know  that  for  her  general  health  to  be 
what  it  is,  and  for  all  symptoms  of  this  dread  malady 
to  be  so  completely  in  abeyance  that  to  onlookers  they 
have  virtually  ceased,  show  the  working  of  a  mighty 
power  in  her  system  that  is  divine  indeed,  for  none  other 
could  accomplish  such  palpable  results  as  we  witness.' 

'<The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  my  shield;  my 
heart  trusted  in  Him  and  I  am  helped  ;  therefore 
.     .     .     with  my  song  will  I  praise  Him." 

Referring  to  a  suggestion  that  some  special  remedies 
(Mattel's),  should  be  applied  to  her  inmates,  Miss 
Reed  writes : 

"  I  think  it  worth  while  to  try  them  on  some  special 
cases.  My  poor,  suffering  ones  beseech  me  to  find 
relief  for  them.  My  heart  aches  to  see  them  suffer, 
and  all  remedies,  tried  so  far,  only  alleviate  suffering 
for  a  short  time." 

Concerning  her  own  health  at  this  time  (in  Septem- 
ber, 1895),   one  of  her  occasional  visitors  remarked 


48  Mary  Reed 

after  seeing  her,  "If  Miss  Reed  had  lived  in  Bible 
times,  and  were  to  show  herself  to  the  Priests  now,  she 
would  surely  be  pronounced  clean.  With  reference 
to  this,  she  herself  writes : 

"This  remark  will  help  you  to  realize  how  wonder- 
fully well  I  have  become,  and  you  will  rejoice  and 
praise  God  with  me  that  I  am,  to  all  outward  appear- 
ances, a  healed  woman  !  How  loving,  merciful,  and 
good  God  is  !  How  gently  He  has  led  me  !  Oh  !  I 
have  no  words  to  express  the  tender  loving-kindness 
of  His  dealings.  I  will  need  all  eternity  in  which  to 
praise  Him." 

It  should  be  remembered  in  this  connection  that 
Miss  Reed  has  all  along  consistently  declined  the  use 
of  remedies  in  her  own  case,  on  the  ground  that  since 
God  had  permitted  this  disease  to  come  to  her,  she 
would  trust  Him  entirely  about  it — although  quite 
prepared  to  apply  remedial  treatment  to  her  patients. 

This  neglect  of  medical  agency  which  arises  from 
absolute  subjection  to  the  will  of  God  in  her  affliction, 
will  not  elicit  the  approval  of  every  reader.  But  in 
view  of  the  impenetrable  obscurity  which  still  conceals 
the  origin  of  the  disease,  of  her  own  mysterious  seizure 
by  it,  and  of  the  admitted  incurability  of  leprosy, 
many  will  not  be  surprised  at  Miss  Reed's  attitude  in 
reference  to  the  use  of  remedies. 

The  report  of  the  Leprosy  Commission,  which  made 
an  exhaustive  inquiry  into  the  existence  and  treatment 
of  leprosy  in  India  in  1 890-1 891,  is  before  me  as  I 
write.  As  the  findings  of  the  Commissioners  who 
conducted  the  investigation  in  India  are  in  several  ini- 


Praise  and  Progress  49 

portant  points  dissented  from  by  the  Committee, 
whose  representatives  they  were,  it  is  difficult  to  sum- 
marize its  results.  For  instance,  as  to  the  vital  ques- 
tion of  the  degree  in  which  leprosy  is  contagious,  the 
Commissioners  report:  *' That  though  in  a  scientific 
classification  of  diseases,  leprosy  must  be  regarded  as 
contagious  and  also  inoculable,  yet  the  extent  to  which 
it  is  propagated  by  these  means  is  exceedingly  small." 
From  these  concluding  words  the  majority  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  dissent,  and  as  the  names  of  eight 
eminent  medical  authorities  are  appended  to  the  pro- 
test, it  may  be  fairly  inferred  that  the  danger  of  con- 
tagion is  by  no  means,  so  ''exceedingly  small"  as 
the  Commissioners  suppose. 

But  however  undetermined  this  elaborate  report  of 
450  pages  is  obliged  to  leave  such  questions  as  origin, 
contagion,  and  heredity  in  relation  to  the  scourge  of 
leprosy,  the  Committee  and  their  Commissioners  were 
unanimous  on  one  point,  viz,  that  of  iiicurability. 
By  any  means  as  yet  known,  leprosy,  they  say,  must 
be  declared  to  be  incurable.  And  this  is  borne  out 
by  detailed  returns  from  upward  of  100  stations  or 
asylums  throughout  India.  From  these  reports,  we 
learn  that  although  some  thirty-six  supposed  remedies 
were  applied,  singly  and  in  combination,  there  is  no 
recorded  case  of  actual  ctire.  "Partial  improve- 
ment," ''slight  relief,"  "temporary  benefit,"  are  oft- 
recurring  phrases  in  these  returns,  varied  not  infre- 
quently by  such  less  hopeful  terms  as  "no  effect," 
"no  satisfactory  result,"  "no  permanent  relief,"  etc. 

In  view  of  the  mystery  surrounding  the  origin  of 


50  Mary  Reed 

leprosy,  whether  considered  historically  or  patholog- 
ically; in  view  of  the  instinctive  repugnance  with 
which  it  inspires  the  beholder ;  in  view  of  its  fearful 
ravages  in  the  human  frame,  of  its  incurable  charac- 
ter, and,  not  least,  of  its  place  in  Holy  Writ,  it  is  no 
far-fetched  assumption  that  regards  it  as  being,  above 
all  other  forms  of  disease,  a  type  of  sin.  Certainly  it 
works  in  the  physical  part  of  man  a  slow,  wasting 
destruction  which  bears  a  close  analogy  to  the  evil 
wrought  by  sin  in  his  moral  nature.  How  impercep- 
tible in  its  beginning,  how  subtle  in  its  working,  how 
relentless  in  its  course,  how  inflexible  in  its  grasp,  and 
how  fatal  in  its  results  !  How  similar  alike  in  its 
origin,  progress,  and  effects  in  the  body  of  man  is  it 
to  spiritual  evil  in  his  soul  !  Should  this  analogy  lead 
us  to  wonder  how  God's  providence  can  be  reconciled 
with  such  a  calamity  as  has  been  permitted  to  over- 
take one  already  devoted  to  His  service,  we  may  per- 
haps find  the  explanation  in  the  answer  of  our  Lord 
when  asked,  ''Who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents, 
that  he  was  born  blind  ?  "  To  this  enquiry,  which 
expresses  the  ideas  of  sin  and  suffering  as  cause  and 
effect,  the  Master  made  answer,  ''Neither  hath  this 
man  sinned  nor  his  parents ;  but  that  the  works  of 
God  shotdd  be  made  ma7iifest  m  hwi^  And  as  we 
read  of  the  boon  of  bodily  relief  and  of  the  infinitely 
higher  blessing  of  spiritual  life  that  have  come  to  many 
as  the  results,  instrumentally,  of  Mary  Reed's  afflic- 
tion, we  must  admit  that,  however  inexplicable  and 
painful  be  the  fact  of  her  disease,  it  has  at  least  led  to 
the  works  of  God  being  made  7na?tfest  ifi  her. 


VIII 

A    WELCOME    VISITOR 

While  we  cannot  too  much  admire  the  fortitude 
and  hopefulness,  arising  from  the  spring  of  Divine 
grace  in  her  heart,  which  have  enabled  Miss  Reed  to 
minimize  the  trials  of  her  suffering  life  and  of  her  iso- 
lated lot,  yet  to  ignore  the  darker  side  of  her  experi- 
ence (as  she  would  have  us  to  do)  would  be  to  convey 
an  imperfect  impression  of  her  life.  Let  the  reader 
endeavor  to  realize  the  position  for  a  moment.  Here 
is  a  woman,  by  nature  of  a  most  sensitive  habit,  in- 
stinctively inclined  to  shrink  from  physical  suffering, 
especially  when  of  a  visible  and  loathsome  kind. 
Herself  mysteriously  overtaken  by  this  dread  disease 
whose  victims  she  knows  are  without  hope  of  human 
remedy,  she  is  surrounded  by  a  community  of  doomed 
beings  who  are  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  with 
no  longer  any  share  in  the  hopes  and  interests  of 
healthy  humanity.  Think  of  the  burden  laid  upon 
her  of  caring  for  the  souls,  as  well  as  for  the  bodies, 
of  her  afflicted  flock,  of  pleading  with  the  indifferent,  of 
reproving  the  evil-minded,  of  restoring  the  backsliding, 
of  cheering  the  downcast,  and  of  striving  to  awaken 
the  dormant  faculties  of  these  despairing  people  to  the 
possibilities-  of  spiritual  cleansing  and  newness  of  life, 
still,  through  the  Divine  love  open  to  them. 
51 


52  Mary  Reed 

And  there  has  to  be  added  to  the  daily  trials  of  faith 
and  patience  inseparable  from  such  a  position  the  bit- 
terest pang  of  all,  viz,  the  certainty  that  the  same 
subtle,  relentless  enemy  whose  foul  handiwork  she  sees 
around  her  at  every  turn  is  at  work  in  herself^  and  that 
she  is,  apart  from  a  miracle  of  Divine  healing,  destined 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  her  days  in  separation  from 
those  for  whose  sympathy  she  most  longs,  and  to  whom 
her  affections  naturally  turn.  But  let  it  be  borne  in 
mind  that  this  is  not  her  conception  of  her  life  and 
work,  nor  her  description  of  the  sphere  of  her  labors. 
This  is  merely  the  perspective  of  the  picture  as  seen 
from  our  standpoint.  To  her  there  is  cast  over  all  the 
dark  and  repulsive  features  of  the  scene  a  heavenly 
light  which  enables  her  to  see  in  the  suffering  objects 
around  her  possible  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Lord 
Almighty.  Praying  without  ceasing,  laboring  without 
flagging,  sympathizing  unfailingly,  she  counts  it  a 
privilege  to  give  time  and  strength,  thought  and  affec- 
tion, for  those  with  whom  her  only  link  is  that  of  a 
common  affliction.  Surely  nothing  but  the  **love  of 
Christ"  could  ^'constrain"  to  this,  and  to  this  she 
would  have  us  ascribe  it  wholly.  However  effectually 
the  fell  disease  may  do  its  work  in  that  which  is  cor- 
ruptible, we  cannot  fail  to  behold  and  to  admire  the 
incorruptible  beauty  of  Divine  grace  in  a  human  soul 
when,  under  conditions  so  adverse,  we  find  a  life  of 
such  devotion  and  thankfulness  being  consummated. 
Here,  beyond  question,  is  the  true  moral  loveliness, 
•'the  beauty  that  endures  in  the  spiritual  height." 

One  of  the  inevitable  trials  of  Miss  Reed's  lot,  but 


A  Welcome  Visitor  53 

one  which,  like  the  many  others,  she  is  enabled  to  bear 
with  cheerful  acquiescence,  is  its  comparative  isolation 
from  intercourse  with  Europeans,  and  especially  with 
her  fellow-missionaries.  When  from  time  to  time  she 
journeys  down  from  her  mountain  retreat  to  Pithora 
for  conference  with  Miss  Budden  and  others,  or  pays 
a  visit — a  rare  event — to  her  friend.  Miss  Dr.  Sheldon, 
at  her  lonely  station  in  Bhot,  her  heart  is  lightened  by 
affection  and  sympathy,  and  she  returns,  with  strength 
renewed,  to  her  suffering  flock. 

At  rare  intervals  she  is  gladdened  by  a  visit  from  a 
sympathetic  and  congenial  Christian  friend,  such  as 
one  of  her  sister  missionaries  just  named.  But  one 
day  late  in  November,  1895,  witnessed  the  arrival  at 
Chandag  of  a  guest  long  expected  and  warmly  wel- 
comed. Mr.  Wellesley  C.  Bailey,  whose  own  labors 
amongst  the  lepers  commenced  in  1869,  was  one  of 
the  founders  (in  1874),  and  is  still  the  superintendent, 
of  the  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India  and  the  East.  To 
Mr.  Bailey  and  his  committee  was  accorded  the  privi- 
lege of  appointing  Miss  Reed  to  the  work  to  which  she 
felt  God  had  called  her,  and  it  was  with  no  ordinary 
feelings,  therefore,  that  in  the  course  of  his  last  visit 
to  Leper  Asylums  in  India  and  Burma  he  approached 
Miss  Reed's  mountain  home.  And  no  less  eagerly,  we 
may  be  sure,  did  she  anticipate  the  coming  of  a  visitor 
to  whom  her  letters,  for  four  years  or  more,  had  con- 
veyed many  an  urgent  invitation.  I  am  glad  to  be 
able  to  conclude  this  chapter  with  Mr.  Bailey's  account 
of  his  visit,  but  I  may  add  that  the  days  these  two  de- 
voted friends  of  the  lepers  spent  in  prayer  and  com- 


54  Mary   Reed 

munion,  social  intercourse,  and  business  conference, 
were  full  of  intense  and  mutual  interest.  Some  ob- 
scure points  were  cleared  up,  some  perplexing  things 
made  plain,  sympathy  and  counsel  freely  given ;  the 
lonely  laborer  was  cheered,  and  the  visitor  more  than 
ever  impressed  as  he  "  saw  the  grace  of  God  "  in  the 
work  and  in  the  worker. 

Mr.  Bailey  writes  as  follows  : 

<*  On  Friday,  29th  November,  I  spent  the  whole  day 
at  Chandag  with  Miss  Reed,  and  heard  from  her  all 
her  wonderful  story,  went  over  all  the  place  with  her, 
had  a  little  service  for  the  women  lepers,  and  visited 
the  men. 

"  Sunday,  ist  December,  was  a  very  happy  day, 
thank  God  !  I  preached  in  Pithora  to  the  native 
Christians,  a  good  congregation  of  about  three  hun- 
dred, mostly  women.  Afterward  went  up  to  Chan- 
dag with  Miss  Budden  and  Miss  Reed  (who  had  been 
down  at  Pithora  for  service  and  for  Sunday-school), 
and  after  tiffin  up  there  had  a  most  delightful  service 
with  the  lepers.  Spoke  on  the  New  Birth.  Was 
greatly  helped,  and  was  listened  to  with  breathless  at- 
tention. I  trust  there  was  blessing.  After  the  service, 
Miss  Budden,  Miss  Reed,  and  I  had  singing  together, 

'<  To-day  (2d  December),  spent  a  very  happy  day 
with  Miss  Reed.  Examined  D.  and  N.  The  former 
is  a  very  decided  case  of  leprosy  which  seems  to  be 
fast  increasing,  but  N.  is,  I  think,  not  a  leper  at  all. 
She  has  certainly  some  white  spots,  but  they  are  in  my 
opinion  merely  leucoderma. 

**  4th  December,  1895. — Chandag  Heights,  Pithora. 


A  Welcome  Visitor  55 

This  is  Miss  Reed's  birthday.  When  I  arrived  at  her 
house  this  morning,  I  found  the  veranda  nicely  deco- 
rated with  ferns  and  flowers,  the  work  of  the  Bible- 
women  and  other  Christian  workers.  I  spent  all  yes- 
terday with  her,  and  had  a  very  interesting  day. 
There  are  some  very,  very  sad  cases  in  this  asylum. 
Poor  little  Gangali  is  terribly  bad ;  I  did  pity  her  so 
yesterday  when  talking  to  her.  She  was  in  great  pain 
with  one  foot,  the  toes  of  which  seem  literally  to  be 
rotting  oif.  She  is  a  little  Trojan,  and  bears  her  suf- 
ferings so  bravely. 

'<  This  morning,  between  two  and  three.  Miss  Reed 
was  awakened  by  hearing  singing  in  her  veranda,  and 
when  she  got  up  and  peeped  out  she  found  her  four 
Biblewomen  and  Tima's  wife,  standing  there  with 
lights,  singing  hymns  in  honor  of  her  birthday.  She 
is  evidently  greatly  beloved  by  her  workers.  The 
decorations  in  the  veranda  were  done  at  night,  and 
Miss  Reed  knew  nothing  about  them  till  she  got  up 
this  morning. 

<*  There  is  a  man  here  in  the  asylum  whose  two 
children  and  niece  are  all  lepers,  and  are  here.  His 
wife  is  the  only  one  not  afllicted  with  the  disease.  At 
first  only  the  man  and  his  niece  were  here.  The  niece 
used  to  live  with  this  man  and  his  wife,  and  was  the 
first  to  develop  the  disease,  and  the  wife  and  two  chil- 
dren, Rupwa  (a  boy)  and  Dipah  (a  girl),  were  at  Miss 
Budden's  home,  but  after  a  time  the  boy  became 
affected,  and  was  removed  here,  and  since  that  poor 
little  Dipah  developed  the  disease,  and  has  been 
brought  here  also.     When  the  poor  mother  saw  that 


56  Mary  Reed 

Dipah  must  go  to  the  asylum  too,  she  was  in  a  terrible 
state,  and  said  to  Miss  Budden  :  *  They  have  all  got  it 
now,  and  are  all  at  the  asylum ;  I  must  go  there  too, 
I  cannot  remain  here  alone.'  Poor  thing  !  Miss 
Budden  tried  to  comfort  her,  and  at  last  persuaded 
her  to  remain  where  she  was,  and  not  risk  herself  by 
going  to  live  at  the  asylum.  The  disease  is  develop- 
ing with  terrible  rapidity  in  these  two  children.  The 
poor  boy  is  scarcely  like  anything  human,  and  the 
girl,  too,  is  very  bad,  though  her  face  is,  so  far,  spared. 
I  believe  it  was  a  very,  very  touching  scene  when  it 
was  discovered  that  the  boy  was  a  leper,  and  he  was 
removed  from  the  boys'  school,  where  he  had  been  so 
happy.     They  are  all  Christians,  thank  God  ! 

'*5th  December,  1895. — Chandag,  9:30  a.  m. 
Standing  at  Miss  Reed's  door,  the  sun  shining  brightly, 
bees  humming,  and  three  exquisite  butterflies  basking 
on  the  flowers  of  a  large  bush  of  heliotrope  which 
grows  beside  the  door,  while  in  front  of  me  and  be- 
low me  the  whole  of  the  Pithora  valley  is  hidden  from 
view  in  one  vast  sea  of  white,  fleecy  clouds,  here 
it  is  like  a  genial  summer  morn  in  the  homeland, 
down  there,  under  those  clouds,  is  the  chill  and  damp 
of  winter.  I  am  up  here  to-day  holding  special  serv- 
ices with  the  lepers.  At  10:30  a.  m.  we  all  assembled 
at  the  side  of  Miss  Reed's  house,  where  the  lepers 
might  sit  in  the  sun  and  be  warm ;  it  makes  such  a 
difference  to  them,  poor  things.  At  first  the  women 
assembled,  and  Miss  Reed  had  great  work  getting 
them  all  to  sit  as  she  wanted  them.  At  last  all  were 
arranged  to  our  satisfaction,  and  the  women  employed 


A  Welcome  Visitor  57 

the  time  singing  bhajans  till  the  men  should  arrive  up 
from  Panahgah  (''place  of  refuge"),  their  home.  I 
stood  up,  and  walked  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  to  see  if 
there  was  any  sign  of  the  men  and  boys  coming,  when 
a  touching  sight  met  my  eye.  I  saw  a  long,  strag- 
gling, white  line  of  very  helpless  creatures  wending 
their  way  up  the  mountain-side  with  considerable 
difficulty.  At  last  they  arrived,  and  we  got  them  all 
seated,  and  ah,  what  a  sight  it  was  !  In  front  of  the 
women,  and  close  to  us,  were  seated  three  dear  little 
girls  with  winsome,  wee  faces,  but  all  far  gone  in 
leprosy;  they  were  Minnie,  Dipah,  and  Gangali,  all 
supported  by  kind  friends  at  home.  Amongst  the 
men  were  several  boys  with  sad,  wistful  faces — one,  a 
little  Nepalese  chap,  had  a  specially  pathetic  look  on 
his  face.  All  were  lepers,  most  of  them  peculiarly 
bad  and  distressing  cases.  When  all  were  ready  we 
had  a  hymn  and  prayer,  then  I  preached  to  them  on 
an  interview  with  Christ,  illustrated  by  the  story  of  the 
woman  at  the  well.  The  Lord  opened  my  mouth, 
and  I  spoke  to  them  without  any  difficulty  in  Hindu- 
stani. It  was  precious  to  tell  out  the  riches  of  re- 
deeming love  to  such  an  audience.  The  appreciative 
smiles,  the  nods  of  satisfaction,  and  the  verbal 
answers  I  got  from  time  to  time  showed  that  they  un- 
derstood and  gladly  received  what  I  preached.  We 
afterward  asked  those  who  had  really  given  them- 
selves to  Jesus  Christ  and  had  received  the  gift  of 
eternal  life  from  Him  to  rise.  Quite  a  large  number, 
both  of  the  men  and  women,  did  so.  I  observed  the 
little  Nepalese  lad  hesitating,  but  finally  he,  too,  stood 


58  Mary  Reed 

up.  Later  on  we  called  together  those  who  had  stood 
up  and  those  who  are  candidates  for  baptism,  and  had 
a  prayer  and  testimony  meeting.  Several,  both  of  the 
men  and  women,  gave  the  most  clear  testimony  to  the 
blessed  salvation  they  had  received  through  Christ. 
One  young  woman,  Kaliyani,  in  a  very  beautiful 
prayer,  thanked  God  that  He  had  brought  this  disease 
upon  her,  as  it  had  been  the  means  of  leading  her  to 
Christ.  Amongst  our  audience  to-day  were  a  father, 
mother,  and  son,  all  victims  of  the  terrible  disease. 

*' Sunday,  8th  December. — Pithora.  A  very  happy 
day,  thank  God.  Got  my  home  letters  in  the  morn- 
ing, then  went  up  to  Chandag,  where  I  breakfasted 
with  Miss  Reed.  After  breakfast,  service  for  the 
lepers  in  the  little  chapel,  where  I  had  a  delightful 
time.  I  conducted  the  service,  and  preached  from 
*  To-day  I  must  abide  at  Thy  house,'  specially  address- 
ing the  converts  who  were  about  to  be  baptized.  I 
was  greatly  helped,  and  the  lepers  showed  their  ap- 
preciation of  what  was  said  by  frequent  smiles,  nods, 
and  responses.  In  order  to  find  out  how  far  they  un- 
derstood, I  sometimes  asked  them  to  finish  the  sen- 
tence, which  they  would  do  correctly.  At  other 
times,  I  would  give  a  wrong  turn  to  something,  and 
ask  them  if  it  were  so,  when  they  would,  without 
hesitation,  correct  me. 

"There  were  eighteen  baptisms,  nine  men  and  nine 
women.  One  of  the  women  baptized  was  Jogiani,  of 
whom  Miss  Reed  had  the  highest  opinion.  Jogiani  is 
about  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  years  of  age.  She 
has  never  been  married.     Her  health  has  improved 


A  Welcome  Visitor  59 

since  coming  to  the  asylum.  Shortly  after  her  bap- 
tism, Miss  Reed  remarked  how  pleased  she  looked, 
and  asked  her  the  cause.  '  Oh  !  '  she  said,  '  I  feel  so 
happy  now,  my  heart  feels  so  light.'  She  then  went 
on  to  tell  Miss  Reed  that  she  wants  to  visit  her  old 
father  once  more,  to  tell  him  all  about  it.  S]ie  said 
she  did  not  expect  to  do  much  by  singing  bhajans. 
She  is  no  singer,  but  she  could  pray  for  him,  and  I 
suppose  with  him  too.  She  will  probably  lead  him  to 
Christ.  One  of  the  Christian  women,  Kaliyani,  such 
a  dear,  bright  woman,  said  to  Miss  Reed  about  the 
service  to-day,  '  Oh,  I  shall  never,  never  forget  it  !  ' 

"  Of  the  eighty-two  inmates  now  in  the  asylum, 
sixty-four  are  professing  Christians.  This  leaves 
eighteen  still  nominal  heathen,  of  whom  five  are  al- 
ready candidates  for  baptism. 

''One  of  the  newly-baptized  women  had  her  first 
test  almost  immediately  after  the  baptism.  Another 
woman  is  very  ill,  and  required  some  one  to  sit  up 
with  her  all  night.  The  sick  woman  was  originally 
low  caste,  while  this  woman  who  has  just  been  bap- 
tized was  originally  high  caste.  Miss  Reed  asked  the 
newly-baptized  one  if  she  would  sit  up  with  the  sick 
one  and  look  after  her.  At  first  she  hung  her  head 
and  did  not  seem  willing,  but  on  Miss  Reed  putting  it 
to  her  that  she  was  now  a  Christian,  and  all  these 
ideas  must  go,  she  consented  without  any  more  ado, 
and  so  her  first  stand  and  fight  are  over,  and  she  has 
been  given  the  victory. 

"My  parting  from  the  lepers  was  most  touching; 
both  men  and  women  assembled  to  say  good-bye,  and 


6o  Mary   Reed 

seemed  quite  moved.  They  sent  many  loving  salaams 
and  '  piyars  '  to  all  their  kind  friends  at  home.  The 
last  I  said  good-bye  to  were  little  Minnie  and  Dipah, 
who  smiled  so  sweetly  and  sent  their  <  bahut  bahut, ' 
'  piyar  '  and  '  salaam  '  to  the  kind  friends  who  support 
them.  Poor  little  Gangali  was  with  the  women  when 
I  said  good-bye  to  them,  and  I  spoke  specially  to  her, 
and  asked  her  if  her  foot  was  better  now,  and  if  she 
were  not  in  such  pain  now.  She  seemed  pleased  at 
my  special  notice,  and  said  she  was  better.  Poor, 
poor  child,  what  a  heritage  of  woe  is  hers  ! 

**  After  I  left  Chandag  I  could  see  the  lepers  watch- 
ing me  for  a  long  way  down  the  road.  Once  or 
twice,  when  I  came  to  a  favorable  turn  of  the  road,  I 
waved  my  handkerchief  to  them." 


IX 


TRAVAIL   OF   SOUL 
(1896) 

"  O  BLESS  our  God,  ye  people,  and  make  the  voice 
of  His  praise  to  be  heard."  This  is  the  note  of 
thanksgiving  with  which  Miss  Reed  opens  her  first 
letter  for  the  new  year.  She  had  just  been  cheered 
by  a  long-expected  visit  from  Mr.  Wellesley  C.  Bailey 
recorded  in  the  last  chapter,  and  had  also  enjoyed  a 
two  days'  stay  in  Bhot  with  her  sister-missionary,  Dr. 
Sheldon,  who  in  her  turn  testified  to  the  help  and 
comfort  Miss  Reed's  presence  and  counsel  had  been 
to  her  in  her  lonely  post  and  her  difficult  work.  But 
probably  that  which  most  filled  her  heart  with  grati- 
tude at  the  opening  of  another  year  was  the  fact  that 
during  1895  she  had  seen  as  many  as  thirty-one  of  her 
suffering  flock  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  by  baptism.  And  this  out  of  a  number 
of  inmates  averaging  about  eighty.  Surely  the  Di- 
vine Husbandman  has  led  His  handmaiden  to  labor  in 
a  fruitful  field  !  Gratitude  for  the  privilege  of  suc- 
cessful work  is  the  prevailing  tone  of  the  correspond- 
ence of  all  the  year.  From  a  letter  dated  March  we 
take  this  extract :  "  Could  I  but  give  you  an  idea  of 
how  my  time  has  been  filled  with  happy,  blessed  work 
ever  since  you  were  here,  you  would  not  wonder  at 
61 


62  Mary  Reed 

my  long  silence.  Aside  from  my  special  work  among 
and  for  my  dear  people  here,  I  have  been  called  out 
into  the  district  work  in  which  God  has  given  good 
success."  (In  connection  with  this,  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  Miss  Reed,  in  addition  to  her  large 
and  trying  work  among  the  lepers,  was  still  the  mis- 
sionary of  her  old  Society.) 

In  the  next  letter  we  are  permitted  for  a  moment  to 
see  the  veil  lifted  from  the  sorrow  that  has  been  press- 
ing so  heavily  on  the  mother's  heart  during  the  years 
that  have  elapsed  since,  all  unsuspectingly,  she  bade 
a  last  earthly  farewell  to  the  daughter  so  beloved  and 
to  be  henceforth  so  isolated.  Mrs.  Reed  had  recently 
been  writing :  **  My  mind  has  been  wandering  away 
to  your  far-off  home.  When  we  do  not  hear  from  you 
every  week  or  two,  I  cannot  help  feeling  anxious  about 
you.  It  is  now  three  weeks  since  we  heard.  When 
we  hear  often,  you  do  not  seem  so  far  away.  Do 
write  frequently,  if  only  a  post-card,  so  that  we  may 
hear  from  you  often,  while  I  stay.  .  .  .  Pray 
that  I  may  be  ready  when  He  calls.  .  .  .  God  is 
very  near  to  me.  He  has  been  good  to  you  and  to 
me."  Without  intrusion  upon  a  grief  so  sacred  as 
this,  we  may  surely  feel  grateful  for  such  a  testimony 
— grateful  that  she  who,  of  all  others,  might  have 
yielded  to  a  spirit  of  murmuring  under  a  stroke  so 
heavy,  is  found  acknowledging  God's  goodness  in  so 
great  and  mysterious  a  sorrow. 

A  touching  life-story  is  recorded  in  one  of  Miss 
Reed's  letters,  dated  April  in  this  year.  It  is,  unhap- 
pily, typical  of  many  from  amongst  India's  unnum- 


Travail  of  Soul  63 

bered  thousands  of  lepers.  ''My  little  girl,  Rebli, 
married  when  she  was  eleven  years  old,  and  says  she 
lived  happily  with  her  husband  and  mother-in-law  for 
two  years,  and  then  the  marks  of  this  dread  disease 
appeared  on  her  face.  They  put  her  away  from  them, 
and  gave  her  a  corner  in  their  cow-stable,  in  which 
she  slept  and  ate  her  food,  but  had  to  work  very  hard 
in  the  fields  the  livelong  day.  She  says  they  were 
very  cruel  to  her,  and  that  her  heart  was  full  of  grief 
because  of  her  affliction.  Finally,  they  tried  to  drive 
her  away  to  wander  alone  in  the  world,  but  she  re- 
fused td  go.  One  day,  thirteen  months  ago,  one  of 
my  helpers  in  village  work  went  to  this  village  and 
was  told  of  this  child,  and  went  to  see  her.  He  spoke 
to  her  of  Chandag,  and  how  the  people  here  are  cared 
for,  and  she  came  home  with  him  to  us.  She  is  very 
grateful  for  this  refuge,  and  appreciative  of  the  com- 
forts and  care  afforded  her.  To-day,  when  I  told  her 
of  the  desire  of  these  dear  women  ^  (a  Bible  Class  in 
Birmingham)  to  support  some  one  in  affliction,  she  said  : 
<  Tell  them  I  am  so  thankful  for  this  home,  for  I  am 
very  happy  and  comfortable  here,  and  I  am  so  glad  I 
have  come  to  know  the  Lord,  and  I  do  thank  Him  for 
what  He  does  for  me.'  Rebli  became  a  Christian  in 
less  than  a  year  after  coming  to  us,  and  w^as  baptized 
in  December  last.     Her  prayers  and  testimonies  in  our 

1  The  cost  of  supporting  a  boy  or  girl  is  £^,  and  of  an  adult 
leper  ;^5  a  year,  and  any  friends  wishing  to  follow  the  example 
of  these  kind  working-women  in  Birmingham  are  invited  to 
communicate  with  The  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India  and  the 
East,  at  17,  Greenhill  Place,  Edinburgh,  Alma,  Monkstown, 
Dublin,  or  Exeter  Hall,  London,  W,  C. 


64  Mary  Reed 

meetings  always  make  my  heart  glad.  She  is  a  gen- 
tle, bright  girl,  much  loved  by  all  her  associates. 
There  are  many  marks  on  her  face,  hands,  and  feet, 
though  she  does  not  yet  suffer  much  physical  pain, 
but  her  poor  little  heart  has  suffered,  and  no  doubt 
the  prayers  and  loving  interest  of  those  dear  mother- 
hearts  will  bring  much  comfort  and  blessing  to  this 
little  one." 

Surely  the  peace,  and  the  prayers,  of  these  good 
women  in  busy  Birmingham,  devoted  to  the  sup- 
port and  comfort  of  their  afflicted  little  sister  in 
distant  Chandag,  must  be  well  pleasing  to  Him 
who  said,  *'  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one 
of  the  least  of  these  ...  ye  have  done  it  unto 
Me." 

<*  A  thousand  thanks"  for  a  remittance  of  i,ooo 
rupees,  and  gratitude  to  God  that  ''  the  rains  have  set 
in  fifteen  days  ahead  of  the  usual  time, ' '  are  the  bur- 
den of  a  brief  note  on  the  6th  of  June.  **  Malaria 
has  even  reached  lovely  and  lofty  Chandag  Heights, 
and  I  am  having  some  fever  these  days,  and  am  ob- 
liged to  go  slowly,  for  a  cha^ige.'^ 

A  glimpse  of  that  "travail  of  soul"  which  is  the 
mark  of  the  true  missionary  is  given  us  in  a  letter  of 
September,  when  Miss  Reed  writes,  ''I  am  feeling 
worn  and  tired  the  past  fortnight,  and  my  heart  has 
been  greatly  burdened  over  the  souls  entrusted  to  my 
care.  ...  I  have  much  to  be  thankful  for ;  but 
more  over  which  my  heart  grieves  nowadays,  but  I 
will  continue  to  pray  with,  and  for,  these  sin-blinded 
ones,  and  to  try  to  lead  them  to  Him  who  alone  can 


Travail  of  Soul  65 

cleanse  them.  Please  pray  that  the  Spirit's  presence 
may  be  manifest  in  quickening  power  here.  So  many 
need  to  be  quickened  and  made  '  alive  unto  God ' 
and  'dead  indeed  unto  sin.'  " 

Part  of  the  suffering  by  sympathy  which  she  en- 
dures is  expressed  by  Miss  Reed  in  a  letter  of  this 
period.  She  describes,  with  deep  regret,  the  deser- 
tion of  some  of  the  younger  members  of  her  flock. 
Of  one  youth  in  particular,  whose  flight  was  a  sorrow- 
ful surprise  to  her,  she  says,  **I  can  only  account  for 
his  running  away  by  the  thought  that  he  wanted  to 
see  something  more  of  the  world  than  is  visible  from 
our  beautiful  abode  here."  She  deplores  the  existence 
of  a  rendezvous  for  wandering  lepers  in  the  district, 
where  they  herd  together  amid  surroundings  of  the 
worst  kind  both  physically  and  morally,  and  fears  her 
wanderer  may  have  found  his  way  there.  (This 
proved  to  be  the  case,  but  in  a  few  weeks  his  return  is 
gladly  recorded.)  But  as  a  contrast,  and  in  some 
sense  a  compensation,  for  this  deserter,  we  hear  a 
cheering  account  of  ''  Har  Singh,"  a  youth  of  seven- 
teen years  of  age,  who  is  an  inmate  of  the  Institution 
along  with  his  parents,  both  of  whom  are  lepers  also, 
and  very  great  sufferers,  but  ''  earnest,  growing  Chris- 
tians and  great  comforts  "  to  their  kind  superintend- 
ent. Har  Singh,  who  has  been  a  leper  since  he  was 
six  years  old,  and  is  now  "a  most  piteous  object,"  is, 
notwithstanding  his  sad  condition,  a  teacher  in  the 
school  of  the  Asylum,  and  has  "a  good  heart,  tender 
and  teachable,  and  has,  I  trust,  received  eternal  life. 
His  earnest  prayers  cheer  and  comfort  my  heart  often, 


66  Mary  Reed 

because  they  tell  me  he  is  one  who  has  been  made 
alive  by  God's  Spirit." 

One  more  of  these  sad  but  interesting  "human 
documents"  may  be  recorded  here  from  the  same 
long  letter :  ''  Gauri  Datt  is  about  eighteen  years  of 
age.  He  came  to  Chandag  four  years  ago  with  only 
faint  traces  of  the  disease,  but  had  been  turned  away 
from  home  because  of  these  marks,  and  had  wandered 
begging  his  food  for  months  before  seeking  shelter  and 
ease.  He  was  a  high  caste  Brahmin,  and  doubtless 
did  not  wish  to  come  under  Christian  influence,  but 
when  he  did  come,  the  truth  soon  found  its  way  to 
his  heart,  and  his  was  one  of  the  brightest,  clearest 
conversions  I  have  witnessed  since  I  have  been  at 
Chandag.  He  has  learned  to  read,  and  is  now  able 
to  read  his  Bible.  He  has  sadly  changed  in  appear- 
ance, and  his  face  is  greatly  disfigured,  and  he  suffers 
much  at  times." 

In  a  letter  of  grateful  acknowledgment  of  some  gifts, 
sent  by  a  London  friend.  Miss  Reed  writes : 

*'  Only  yesterday  I  had  the  pleasure  of  opening  the 
box  you  had  packed  with  such  loving  thoughtfulness. 
How  I  wish  I  knew  how  to  express  the  gratitude  and 
thanksgiving  that  filled  my  heart  as  I  took  out  the 
parcels  and  opened  them  one  by  one  !  The  sewing 
machine  is  a  beauty  !  But  of  that  I  shall  have  more 
to  say  after  I  use  it,  as  I  hope  to  do  a  few  weeks  hence 
in  making  the  thirty-four  warm  chaddars  (a  sort  of 
head  covering  and  wrap  combined)  for  my  women 
and  girls  for  Christmas  gifts.  Miss  Pim  has  asked  me 
to  buy  the  flannel  in  India  at  her  expense.     Can  you 


Travail  of  Soul  67 

imagine  the  pleasure  I  shall  have  in  combining  your 
gifts  and  hers,  and  my  service,  to  make  these  poor 
sufferers  happy  and  comfortable  at  Christmas  ?  ' ' 

The  following  stanzas  from  a  leaflet  much  appreci- 
ated by  Miss  Reed  may  fitly  bring  this  chapter  to  a 
close : 

He  who  lived  this  life  I'm  living, 

When  the  robe  of  flesh  He  wore, 
Died  the  death  on  Calvary,  giving 

Life  to  me  forevermore  j 
Risen  now  and  interceding, 
That  His  glory  I  may  see, 
God,  my  Saviour, 
"  Not  a  stranger," 
Waits  in  heaven  to  welcome  me. 

He,  whose  constant  Presence  cheering 

All  my  path,  my  faithful  Guide, 
While  I  wait  for  His  appearing. 

Longing  still  unsatisfied, 
Till  at  length,  faith's  full  fruition, 
My  enraptured  soul  shall  see, 
God,  my  Saviour, 
"  Not  a  stranger," 
Will  to  glory  welcome  me. 

Closer  than  a  brother  cleaving 

To  the  soul  He  died  to  save ; 
Friend  Divine  !  on  Him  believing, 

I  shall  triumph  o'er  the  grave. 
He,  who  bore  the  shame  and  sorrow, 
That  the  victor  I  might  be  — 
God,  my  Saviour, 
"  Not  a  stranger," 
With  a  crown  shall  welcome  me. 


68  Mary  Reed 

Blessed  Saviour  !  closer  pressing 

To  Thy  side  my  steps  shall  be, 

All  my  worthlessness  confessing, 

All  my  confidence  in  Thee. 
When  amid  life's  evening  shadows. 
Homeward  shall  my  footsteps  be, 
God,  my  Saviour, 
"  Not  a  stranger," 
Come !  Oh,  come  to  welcome  me. 

A.  F.  H. 


YEAR   BY    YEAR 

Possibly  a  still  clearer  impression  of  Miss  Reed's 
work ;  its  nature  and  progress  ;  its  difficulties  and  en- 
couragements ;  its  light  and  shade  ;  will  be  conveyed 
by  extracts  from  her  own  reports  as  Missionary  of  the 
W.  F.  M.  S.  for  a  few  consecutive  years.  She  writes 
(February,  1896):  **Last  year  I  had  five  workers, 
this  year  the  number  has  increased  to  ten,  and  I  am 
obliged  to  make  tours,  at  least  once  a  month,  camping 
for  a  week  at  a  time  during  these  journeys,  which  take 
me  from  twenty  to  thirty  miles  from  home.  But  I  am 
glad  of  these  varied  duties."  The  workers  here  re- 
ferred to  were  Hindustani,  or  native  Bible  women  and 
teachers,  the  supervision  of  whose  work  formed  part  of 
Miss  Reed's  duties.  This  will  serve  to  make  clear 
the  following  extracts : 

"Blessed  be  God,  even  the  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  Mercies,  and  the  God  of 
all  comfort. 

*' Who  comforteth  us  in  all  our  tribulation  that  we 
may  be  able  to  comfort  them  which  are  in  any  trouble, 
by  the  comfort  wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted 
of  God." 

"During  the  past  two  years  I  have  experienced  so 
much  of  the  loving  compassion  and  tender  mercy  of 
69 


70  Mary  Reed 

nhe  Friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother,'  that 
it  is  with  a  very  grateful,  humble  heart  I  attempt  to 
recount,  for  the  dear  friends  of  our  widening  mission- 
ary circle,  something  of  God's  dealings  with  me  and 
the  people  to  whom  He  has  called  me  to  minister 
here,  in  this  beautiful  place,  Chandag  Heights.  That 
His  seal  of  blessing  is  upon  the  special  work  going 
forward  among  the  poor  afflicted  ones  occupying  this 
retreat,  as  well  as  among  the  inhabitants  of  adjacent 
villages,  will  be  evident  from  the  following  report : 

<<The  past  two  years  have  been  years  of  improve- 
ment— '  lengthening  of  cords,  and  strengthening  of 
stakes.'  The  Missionary  Society  in  Great  Britain 
supporting  this  work,  not  only  sent  means  for  the  sim- 
ple needs  of  my  poor  people,  but  very  generously  re- 
sponded to  appeals  for  funds  with  which  to  erect  the 
needed  additional  buildings,  so  that  now  we  have  two 
large  buildings,  capable  of  accommodating  sixty  men 
and  boys,  three  smaller  buildings  for  forty  women  and 
girls,  and  a  little  hospital  for  separating  the  extreme 
cases  from  less  affected  ones.  To  the  latter  I  have  a 
little  dispensary  attached.  Four  of  these  new  build- 
ings and  a  house  for  a  native  preacher  and  family  who 
assist  me  in  village  work,  have  been  erected  during 
the  past  eighteen  months. 

"The  Government  recently  granted  us  forty-eight 
acres  additional  land,  around  which  we  are  now  hav- 
ing a  stone  wall  built.  This  generous  gift,  in  addition 
to  the  eighteen  acres  owned  by  the  Mission,  provides 
ample  building  room  for  years  to  come,  and  allows 
plots  of  ground  to  be  portioned  out  to  all  who  are  able 


Year  by  Year  71 

to  work,  while  acres  are  left  for  grazing  ground.  So 
many  unknown  interested  friends  have  written  ask- 
ing me  how  this  work  is  supported,  that  I  take  the 
Hberty  of  making  a  brief  explanation  regarding  the 
Society  under  whose  auspices  I  have  been  so  mysteri- 
ously called  to  work.  It  is  called  the  '  Mission  to 
Lepers  in  India  and  the  East,'  and  works,  not  by 
sending  missionaries  of  its  own,  but  by  utilizing  exist- 
ing agencies,  making  grants  of  money  for  the  erection 
of  asylums,  and  undertakes  the  support  of  patients 
who  find  shelter  and  care  in  these  homelike  retreats. 

<*  Any  help  from  anywhere  will  be  most  gratefully 
received,  especially  from  those  who  have  not  hitherto 
given  much  to  missions.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  sad 
and  how  serious  the  need  is  here. 

"  This  mountain  district,  one  of  the  fairest  spots  of 
God's  beautiful  earth,  has  the  sad  reputation  of  being 
one  of  the  very  worst  districts  in  India  for  this  dread 
malady.  During  the  past  eighteen  months  eighty 
patients'  names  have  been  enrolled  on  my  books,  and  I 
am  told  that  within  a  radius  of  ten  miles  of  us  there 
are  more  than  four  hundred  who  ought  to  be  here  in 
the  asylum.  I  hope  to  see  the  last  of  these  new  build- 
ings occupied  as  soon  as  the  walls  become  thoroughly 
dry.  How  my  heart  yearns  to  see  all  these  people, 
not  only  sheltered  and  cared  for,  but  all  gathered  into 
the  fold  of  Christ !  Of  the  fifty-seven  patients  now 
enrolled,  only  five  are  outside  the  fold.  They  are 
newcomers,  are  being  taught,  and  will,  I  hope,  soon 
come  out  of  darkness  into  <  His  marvellous  light.' 
The  power  of  the  Gospel  to  bring  brightness  and  hope 


72  Mary  Reed 

into  their  lives  has  been  manifest  in  the  wonderful 
changes  in  temperaments  which  I  have  rejoiced  to 
note  in  so  many  cases  this  year.  I  used  to  be  called 
so  often  to  settle  disputes  amongst  quarrelsome  ones, 
but  now  peace  and  gentleness  and  patience  are  mani- 
fest, and  I  delight  to  watch  their  growth  in  goodness, 
and  to  hear  the  voice  of  praise,  not  in  tuneful  sounds 
— (the  singing  is  not  good),  but  in  a  joyful  noise  they 
make  unto  Him,  whom  many  of  them  have  learned  to 
love.  A  goodly  number  give  clear  evidence  of  a  deep 
experience  of  God's  saving  grace.  He  owns  and 
blesses  the  services,  and  the  lessons  taught.  I  have 
some  precious  meetings  with  them,  in  which  earnest 
prayers  and  intelligent  testimonies  make  my  heart  re- 
joice in  Him  in  whose  service  there  is  so  much  of 
blessedness.  Some  have  found  the  way  to  the  home 
of  many  mansions. 

"  Aside  from  the  special  work  for  which  I  have  been 
called  apart  ...  I  have  had  the  privilege,  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  of  opening  four  schools  for  boys  and 
girls  in  the  villages,  lying  in  the  mountain  valleys, 
from  two  to  five  miles  distant  from  my  home.  About 
six  months  ago  two  other  schools  were  made  over  to 
me  by  the  preacher-in-charge  of  Pithoragarh  circuit. 
In  these  six  schools  there  have  been  over  200  pupils 
enrolled  this  year.  They  have  memorized  a  number 
of  hymns,  texts,  and  lessons  in  our  catechism,  and 
eagerly  look  for  the  Sunday-school  papers. 

"The  little  boys  in  the  schools  are  my  special 
adherents,  and  many  a  little  hand  has  been  the  means 
of  conveying  the  gospel  message  to  idolatrous  homes 


Year  by  Year  73 

into  which  I  otherwise  have  had  no  access,  it  being  a 
favorite  habit  of  mine  to  distribute  books,  papers, 
gospels,  hymns,  etc.,  to  all  who  can  read. 

"In  my  attempts  to  reach  the  women  in  their 
homes,  rebuffs  and  rude  speeches  have  been  a  frequent 
experience,  and  after  a  whole  year  of  effort  I  have 
only  five  women  and  one  girl  learning  to  read  in  their 
homes.  I  have  time  to  visit  and  teach  them  but  once 
a  week ;  but  a  Biblewoman  has  recently  taken  up  this 
village  work  and  gives  them  one  lesson  weekly ;  so 
with  the  Bible  lessons  and  teaching  given,  I  trust  that 
such  a  change  may  come  into  their  hearts  and  lives 
that  other  homes  and  hearts  will  be  opened  to  our 
visits  and  to  the  gospel  message  the  coming  year. 

"This  school  and  village  work  involves  a  large 
amount  of  wear  and  tear,  and  calls  for  the  exercise  of 
much  faith  and  patience.  But  I  know  that  it  is  the 
steady  grind  of  the  workaday  machinery  that  in  the 
end  produces  results  which,  I  trust,  shall  be  better  and 
more  enduring  than  any  that  can  ever  appear  in  a 
missionary  report.  My  view  of  progress  is  a  brighter 
and  more  hopeful  one  than  even  the  brightest  and 
most  hopeful  which  statistics  furnish. 

"  It  is  a  wondrous  sweetener  of  what  otherwise  would 
be  an  unbearable  burden,  that  through  this  dispensa- 
tion of  God's  providence  and  grace  He  is  not  only 
working  in  my  own  heart  and  life  to  will  and  to  do 
of  His  good  pleasure ;  but  that  it  is  also  being  utilized 
by  Him  in  rousing  wills,  moving  hearts,  quickening 
thought,  influencing  and  enlisting  new  recruits  for 
the  '  great  company '  needed  to  publish  His  blessed 


74  Mary   Reed 

word.  Blessed,  ever  blessed  be  His  glorious  Name 
forever  ! 

''It  has  been  most  refreshing  to  receive  the  many 
letters  that  have  come  from  the  dear  home  helpers, 
individuals,  and  auxiliaries,  whose  precious  messages 
fraught  with  love  and  prayer,  have  cheered  and 
strengthened  my  heart  again  and  again  during  the 
past  two  years.  May  I  here  thank  all  who  have 
written  and  who  have  had  no  reply  to  their  kindly 
enquiries,  many  of  which  are  either  answered  or  im- 
plied in  this  very  incomprehensive  review,  which  is  so 
void  of  details  or  incidents  that  I  fear  it  will  be  want- 
ing in  interest  to  many." 

The  Report  for  the  following  year  reveals  to  us 
somewhat  of  the  burden  and  travail  endured  by  the 
faithful  worker  owing  to  the  moral  lapses  of  some  who 
had  formerly  given  good  grounds  for  hope  : 

"In  reviewing  the  past  year's  work  I  am  not  privi- 
leged to  reckon  up  a  balance  of  success.  No  harvest 
songs  have  I  to  sing — this  sower's  songs  are  tears ;  and 
to  faithfully  report  the  'labor  of  love,'  and  the  trials 
caused  by  sins,  weakness,  and  wickedness  of  some  of 
the  flock  entrusted  to  my  care,  who  had  been  '  my  joy 
and  crown  of  rejoicing '  until  the  enemy  of  souls  en- 
tered, enticed,  and  led  into  paths  of  sin  some  of  those 
whom  I  had  thought  were  settled  and  established  in 
the  faith,  is  beyond  my  powers  of  portrayal.  My 
heart  is  heavy  with  sorrow  over  those  who,  oh,  so 
much  more  than  comfort  need  '  to  be  set  at  liberty.' 
Liberty  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  Satan.  Here,  as 
in  Job's  time,  '  when  the  sons  of  God  presented  them- 


Year  by  Year  75 

selves  before  the  Lord,  Satan  came  also  among  them.* 
(Job  i.  6.)  Oh  !  the  grief  to  one  who  watches  for 
these  precious  souls  as  one  who  must  give  an  account, 
to  learn  that  some  of  these  called  <  sons  of  God '  have 
not  yet  really  come  out  from  Satan's  kingdom  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son  !  How  much  more  than 
ever  before  these  words,  '  to  set  at  liberty  them  that 
are  bound,'  mean  to  me  now  !  and  I  am  learning  from 
these  painful  experiences  that  before  broken  hearts  can 
be  bound  up  and  healed  they  must  first  be  cleansed. 
Dear  helpers-together-by-prayer,  the  solemn  interests 
involved  here  compel  me  to  entreat  you,  even  unto 
tears,  to  continue  to  pray  for  the  salvation  of  these 
precious  souls,  and  to  pray  for  me,  that  in  the  mo- 
ments when  I  most  deeply  feel  my  own  impotence  and 
the  awful  force  of  the  '  principalities  and  powers  mar- 
shalling their  unseen  array,'  I  may  hold  on  to  God's 
promises,  and  *  lean  hard '  upon  Jesus,  who  says,  *  I 
know  thy  labor  and  thy  patience,  and  how  thou  canst 
not  bear  them  which  are  evil.'  May  this  'I  know' 
suffice  amid  all  the  chilling  influences  the  great  Hin- 
derer  can  put  forth  this  coming  year  !  During  the 
past  year  eighty-six  poor  sufferers  have  been  sheltered 
and  cared  for.  Of  that  number  seven  died,  four  ran 
away,  several  had  to  be  sent  away  for  bad  conduct, 
and  one  case  proved  that  a  mistake  had  been  made  in 
the  diagnosis,  and  my  heart  rejoiced  in  being  able  to 
return  one  dear  girl,  healthy  and  sound,  to  Miss  Bud- 
den's  school.  There  are  seventy  here  at  present. 
Leaving  all  to  His  patience  and  forgiveness,  and  trust- 
ing Him  to  supply  all  my  need  of  grace,  wisdom,  pa- 


76  Mary  Reed 

tience,  gentleness,  firmness,  and  abounding  spiritual 
power,  I  enter  upon  another  year  of  service  for  my 
blessed  Master. 

"  He  careth,  and  He  will  not  let 
Me  have  too  much  to  bear ; 
Nor  any  burden  great  or  small 
But  what  He,  too,  will  share. 

*'No  words  of  mine  can  express  the  personal  obli- 
gation I  feel  to  the  dear  helpers  together  across  the 
seas,  for  the  many,  many,  kind  and  helpful  letters,  and 
for  the  boxes  of  bandages,  towels,  soap,  pictures,  seeds, 
etc.,  all  of  which  have  been  most  thankfully  received. 
Thank  you  all,  very  much !  and  with  a  very  grateful 
heart  I  do  most  truly 

"  Thank  God  for  love,  the  love  of  friends, 
That  golden  cord  that  binds 
Us  each  to  each,  and  links  us  on 
To  kindred  human  minds  ! 

«  That  Christlike  thing  that  reaches  down 
To  depths  of  human  woe, 
And  sheds  o'er  darkest  paths  and  sad 
A  benediction  glow ! 

"  But  thank  God  most  for  His  great  love 
That  living  source  Divine 
Which  stoopeth  down  to  earth,  and  cares 
For  your  love  and  for  mine." 

A  year  later  we  find  the  clouds  have  lifted  some- 
what : 

**  Those  who  read  my  last  year's  report  will  know 
that  it  is  with  no  spirit  of  self-complacency  or  boast- 


Year  by  Year  77 

ing,  but  with  gratitude  and  humility,  I  look  back  over 
the  year  that  is  now  closing,  for  I  recognize  that  the 
good  hand  of  the  Lord  has  been  upon  us. 

*'At  times  it  has  been  very  heavy,  but  He  has 
enabled  me, 

«  Just  to  leave  in  His  dear  Hand 

All  I  could  not  understand. 
Just  to  let  Him  take  the  care 

Sorely  pressing, 
Finding  all  I  let  Him  bear 

Changed  to  blessing. 

*'  We  have  had  a  blessed  year,  and  that  means  more 
than  a  happy  one.  And  over  and  above  the  blessed- 
ness vouchsafed,  I  have  had  the  three  essentials  of 
happiness,  i.e.^  plenty  of  work,  remarkably  good  gen- 
eral health  much  of  the  year,  and  love. 

*'  The  care  and  teaching  given  to  those  entrusted  to 
me  to  serve  and  train  has  not  been  wasted.  The  work 
in  the  surrounding  villages  has  been  steadily  and  sys- 
tematically done  by  the  four  village  visitors.  Much 
seed  has  been  sown,  and  that  sown  in  the  nearer  vil- 
lages last  year  has  seemed  to  spring  up  and  has  been 
cultivated  and  watered  with  many  prayers  this  year. 
And  shall  we  not  trust  that  in  due  season  fruit  will 
appear  ?  For,  like  a  solid  rock  beneath  our  feet  is  our 
Father's  promise  that  His  word  shall  not  return  unto 
Him  void,  but  shall  accomplish  that  whereunto  He 
hath  sent  it.     .     .     . 

''The  great  event  of  the  year  connected  with  the 
special  work  for  which  I  was  recalled  to  dear  India, 


78  Mary  Reed 

was  the  purchase  of  more  land  and  the  erection  of  new 
homes  for  the  men  and  boys  of  the  institution.  Pan- 
ahgah  (place  of  refuge)  comprises  one  half-dozen  neat 
stone  houses  which  grew  up  like  magic  in  a  few  weeks' 
time,  and  this  group  of  white  houses  is  surrounded  by 
garden-plots  neatly  laid  out  and  carefully  cultivated  by 
the  dwellers,  who  are  very  much  pleased  with  their 
new  abode." 

In  the  following  extract"  Miss  Reed  gives  grateful 
expression  to  the  value  she  attaches  to  the  prayers  of 
her  many  friends,  as  well  as  to  the  stimulus  she  derives 
from  the  '<  blessed  hope  "  of  the  coming  again  of  her 
Lord  and  Saviour. 

'<In  all  their  affliction  He  was  afflicted,  and  the 
Angel  of  His  Presence  saved  them  :  in  His  love 
and  in  His  pity  He  redeemed  them;  and  He  bare 
them  and  carried  them  all  the  days  of  old. ' '    Is.  Ixiii.  9. 

<' August  22d,  1896. 
"  Dear  Sisters  and  Friends, 

''Greeting  and  loving  gratitude  from  a  heart 
filled  with  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  Him  who  still 
'crowneth  with  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercy' 
her  whom  He  thus  continues  to  bless  in  answer  to  your 
prayers.  He  has  been  so  tenderly  gracious  to  me  since 
my  last  annual  letter  was  written  to  you  just  one  year 
ago  to-day ;  it  has  been  such  gentle,  faithful,  '  loving- 
kindness  '  all  along,  and  I  go  on  my  way  sure  and  glad, 
taking  strength  and  health  as  precious  gifts  from  Him 
Whose  presence  is  salvation.  Most  marvellously  is 
He  fulfilling  His  gracious  word :  *  I  will  do  you  no 
hurt.' 


Year  by  Year  79 

"Often  and  often  I  am  conscious  of  especial  bless- 
ing and  help  given  in  answer  to  other  prayers  than 
mine.  How  much  the  interests  of  His  kingdom,  the 
varied  and  pressing  needs  of  His  work  here  in  this 
corner  of  His  vineyard  need  your  prayers  !  Prayer 
will  open  the  hard  hearts  of  these  idolatrous  nations, 
and  prayer  will  bring  the  little  flock  for  whom  Jesus 
is  coming  soon.  Dear  sisters,  what  can  be  more  ma- 
jestic than  the  thought  that  we,  the  King  of  kings' 
children,  have  it  in  our  power  to  hasten  the  close  of 
the  tragedy  of  sin  and  sorrow,  and  to  hasten  the  ad- 
vent of  an  era  of  peace  and  glory,  perhaps,  even  in 
our  own  lifetime.  To  me  it  is  increasingly  precious, 
the  thought  that  just  as  soon  as  the  Gospel  is  pub- 
lished equally  to  all  the  peoples  of  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  so  that  all  may  have  the  opportunity  of  salva- 
tion, and  when,  from  among  these,  the  Bride  of  Christ 
be  gathered  from  all  tribes  and  tongues,  'then  shall 
the  end  come  !  '  (See  Matt.  xxiv.  14.)  This  *  blessed 
hope  '  is  a  buoy  to  my  soul  during  the  storms  and  bat- 
tles that  surge  round  us  here,  it  lifts  me  above  the 
waves  of  worry  and  anxiety. 

"  Delightful  as  it  is  to  write  to  you  of  our  Lord  and 
His  dealings  with  this  one  of  His  'little  ones,'  I  must 
not  take  more  of  your  time  and  mine  for  this  precious 
theme,  because  you  will  be  wishing  to  hear  something 
of  the  opportunities  He  is  granting  to  me  for  service 
in  varied  spheres  this  year. 

''I  can  only  give  you  an  outline  of  the  different 
phases  of  work  for  Him  in  which  it  is  my  privilege 
and  joy  to  be  engaged  heart  and  soul. 


8o  Mary   Reed 

"Aside  from  the  special  work  of  caring  for  and 
teaching  the  flock  of  poor  suffering  ones,  which  has 
varied  in  numbers  from  eighty  to  ninety  this  year,  I 
have  been  very  busy  and  happy  in  itinerating  and  Dis- 
trict work,  in  which  are  engaged  six  Evangehsts  and 
teachers,  besides  my  six  dear  Biblewomen,  and  in 
addition  to  superintending  and  helping  them  in  this 
village  work,  five  boys'  schools  are  being  opened,  and 
these  will  be  centres  of  light  in  needy,  neglected  cor- 
ners of  this  vineyard.     .     .     . 

*' And  now,  before  closing  this  letter,  I  want  to  as- 
sure you  that  the  loving  messages  your  letters  bring 
are  real  blessings  for  which  I  am  deeply  grateful  to 
you  and  to  Him  who  puts  it  into  your  hearts  to  send 
me  such  cheer  and  help. 

"Yours  in  His  love  and  service, 

"Mary  Reed." 


XI 

CHRISTMAS   WITH   THE   LEPERS 

"  Glad  tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all  the 
people."  This  was  the  message  of  the  angels  on  the 
first  Christmas  morning,  and  when  we  find  the  sad 
hearts  of  the  lepers  of  Chandag  made  happy  by  Christ- 
mas cheer  and  Christmas  gifts,  we  seem  to  hear  the 
music  of  the  angelic  song  still  sounding  on  ''through 
the  ringing  grooves  of  change."  If  the  lives  of  these 
afflicted  and  hopeless  people  can  be  brightened  by  the 
rays  of  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  then  we  may  be  sure 
that  no  lot  in  life  is  too  sad  and  dark  for  their  cheer- 
ing and  illuminating  power. 

And  that  they  can  be  so  brightened,  the  followijig 
accounts  of  Christmas  among  the  lepers  will  abun- 
dantly demonstrate. 

The  Christmas  festivities  of  1893  ^^^  thus  described 
by  Miss  Reed,  in  a  letter  to  Miss  C.  E.  Pim,  of  Dub- 
lin, whose  interest  in  the  needs  of  the  lepers  has  been 
warm  and  active  ever  since  she  helped,  twenty-five 
years  ago,  to  found  the  Society  of  which  Miss  Reed  is 
now  a  Missionary. 

"I  am  giving  you  the  tidings  of  the  very  happy 
Christmas  I  had  in  seeing  all  my  poor  dear  people's 
hearts  filled  with  such  real  joy  and  gratitude  and  sur- 
prise over  the  very  substantial  manner  in  which  you 
and  your  circle  of  dear  workers  have  manifested  the 
81 


82  Mary  Reed 

love  and  care  of  Him  whose  birthday  had  such  a  joy- 
ous celebration  in  our  Retreat  here  this  year.  This 
expression  of  your  loving-kindness  has  wonderfully 
helped  to  emphasize  God's  love  to  these,  *  the  least  of 
His  little  ones.'  These  new,  bright,  warm  garments, 
so  lovingly  prepared,  in  His  name,  for  them,  deeply 
touched  their  hearts ;  there  is  an  infinite  satisfaction 
to  me  in  the  thought  that  He  whom  you  thus  served, 
heard  and  appreciated  all  the  salaams  and  messages  I 
was  authorized  to  send  to  you  !  For  I  cannot  wn'^e 
them  for  you,  else  there  would  not  be  space  left  in  this 
letter  to  tell  you  of  our  Christmas  tree. 

^<I  put  all  the  gifts  on  an  evergreen  tree  which 
stands  near  the  Hospital :  there  were  dolls  for  my 
dear  little  girls,  bright  scrapbooks  for  the  boys,  hymn 
books  and  other  books  for  all  who  have  learned  to 
read,  bags  of  nuts,  etc.,  oranges  in  abundance,  sweets 
(}^lb.  for  each),  and  last  and  most  appreciated  of  all, 
were  the  warm  sulukas  and  waistcoats ;  all  was  a 
complete  surprise  to  them  on  Christmas  morning. 
Just  after  the  service,  they  filed  out  of  our  little 
chapel  joyously  singing  'Jai  Prabhu  Yisu,' — 'Glory 
or  Victory  to  Jesus,'  as  they  went  to  receive  what  will 
make  them  happy  for  many  weary  months  to  come. 
Accept  my  heartfelt  gratitude  for  this  help  to  them 
and  to  me,  for  it  is  an  untold  delight  to  my  heart  to 
witness  their  growth  spiritually.  Peace,  gentleness, 
patience,  and  love  are  being  cultivated  in  hearts  com- 
forted and  touched  through  the  constraining  love  be- 
ing manifested  to  them  in  various  ways,  and  I  thank 
you,  oh,  so  much,  for  your  large  contribution  to  this 


Christmas  with  the  Lepers  83 

end.  I  must  not  write  more  now.  Many,  many 
thanks  for  the  copy  of  the  'Christian  Choir.'  Yes, 
I  have  a  fnusical  soul,  and  often  and  often  do  I  prove 
that  love,  luork,  and  song  cause  sorrow  to  depart. 
Many  of  the  sweet  hymns  in  this  book  are  very  fa- 
mihar,  and  I  love  to  sing  them  in  praise  to  Him  who 
so  wonderfully  keeps  and  blesses  me." 

Another  letter,  also  to  Miss  Pim,  tells  of  gifts  and 
gladness  in  connection  with  the  Christmas  of  1895. 

"  Chandag  Heights,  February  29th,  1896. — I  very 
much  regret  my  inability  to  write  to  you  ere  this  of 
the  happy,  blessed  Christmas  we  had  here  on  Chandag 
Heights. 

"■  The  wondrous  love  of  Him  whose  birthday  we  had 
such  joy  in  celebrating  was  made  more  real  by  the 
gifts,  the  handiwork  of  those  who  prepared  the  splen- 
did warm  garments,  as  tokens  of  the  love  of  Christ 
constraining  and  drawing  hearts  to  thus  lovingly  min- 
ister to  the  comfort  of  the  'least  of  His  little  ones.' 
It  gave  me  more  pleasure  than  I  can  ever  express  to  pre- 
sent these  precious  gifts  in  His  name,  and  I  do  assure 
you  they  were  received  with  loving  gratitude,  and  are 
much  appreciated  by  all  the  recipients,  who  wish  to 
send  more  salaams  than  I  have  time  or  space  to  re- 
cord. But  the  record  of  this  '  labor  of  love '  is  on 
high.  Believe  me  inexpressibly  grateful  for  the 
happiness  and  help  you  have  given  to  me,  and  to 
the  dear  ones  to  whom  I  have  been  called  to  min- 
ister.    .     .     . 

''The  gift  of  dear  Mrs.  Buttfield  and  her  husband, 
affording  a  bounteous  dinner  of  curry  and  rice,  and 


84  Mary  Reed 

cakes  fried  in  ghi,  of  which  Hindustani  people  are  so 
fond,  and  sweets  and  oranges,  were  < treats'  indeed, 
which  were  relished  with  very  evideiit  appreciation. 
How  I  wish  you  could  have  witnessed  the  scene,  the 
happy,  orderly  groups,  which  took  us  nearly  two  hours 
to  serve.  The  services  in  the  Church,  too,  were 
greatly  blessed,  and  several  received  the  rite  of  bap- 
tism.    .     .     ." 

I  am  glad  to  be  allowed  to  quote  the  following 
graphic  account  of  Christmas,  1896,  from  the  pen  of 
Miss  Martha  Sheldon,  M.  D.,  who  is  one  of  Miss 
Reed's  most  valued  friends.  Dr.  Sheldon  is  a  Medical 
Missionary  of  the  Women's  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America 
and  is  laboring  in  the  adjacent  territory  of  Bhot.  On 
several  occasions  this  friend  and  fellow-worker  has 
cheered  Miss  Reed  by  her  welcome  presence  at  Chan- 
dag,  and  has,  as  her  letters  testify,  herself  returned  to 
her  work  encouraged  and  stimulated  by  intercourse 
with  her  sister-friend.  Dr.  Sheldon  thus  describes  the 
Christmas  she  spent  at  Chandag : 

<'0n  my  way  to  the  Conference  from  my  distant 
home  in  Bhot,  I  was  privileged  to  spend  Christmas 
with  dear  Miss  Reed.  In  the  afternoon  of  Christmas 
Eve  there  was  the  distribution  of  warm  jackets  to  the 
women  of  the  Asylum,  which  took  place  on  the  open 
grounds ;  twenty-nine  women  and  four  girls  were  al- 
ready seated  on  the  grass  when  Miss  Reed  and  I  ar- 
rived. The  sloping  rays  of  the  afternoon  sun  fell 
gratefully  upon  us  and  the  poor  creatures  who  sat  be- 
fore us ;  in  the  distance  stretched  the  mountains  of 


Christmas  with  the  Lepers  85 

snow  on  the  North,  beyond  which  lay  my  field  of 
work  among  the  Bhotiyans  and  Thibetans. 

''After  song,  talk,  and  prayers,  in  which  the  women 
took  part,  the  presents  were  distributed.  It  was  a 
touching  sight  to  see  the  stumps  of  hands,  which  up 
to  this  time  had  been  hidden  beneath  the  enveloping 
chaddars,  now  emerge,  and  in  one  way  or  another, 
appropriated  the  nice,  warm  garments  which  interested 
friends  across  the  sea  had  sent,  while  each  expressed 
her  grateful  thanks.  The  girls'  presents  had  been  re- 
served till  the  last.  They  received  warm  chaddars, 
dainty  dolls,  etc.,  etc.  As  Miss  Reed  called  them  to 
her,  and  gave  them  their  presents,  each  girl  said, 
'Mama,  salaam.'  Miss  Reed  turned  to  me  with  a 
smile,  and  said,  'I  have  allowed  them  to  call  me 
"  Mama  "  ;  they  began  it  themselves— if  it  is  any  hap- 
piness to  them  I  am  willing  they  should  call  me  so.' 

' '  In  the  evening  we  had  dinner  together.  Miss  Reed 
sitting  at  her  little  table  with  separate  dishes,  and  I 
at  another,  eating  chicken,  curry  and  rice,  and  peaches 
from  far  away  America.  We  talked  with  many  a 
ripple  of  laughter  as  we  enjoyed  our  meal  in  the  cozy 
little  dining-room  where  the  wood  fire  burned  cheerily. 
"  Then  what  an  evening  we  had  together  !  There 
were  heart  experiences  to  tell,  difficulties  of  the  work 
to  recount,  and  travail  of  soul  over  way^vard  ones  to 
relate.  In  the  course  of  conversation,  I  asked  Mary, 
'  Do  you  think  the  disease  is  making  any  progress  with 
you  ?  '  She  said,  '  I  feel  that  it  will  never  be  any 
worse  for  others  to  bear  than  it  is  now,  but  I  am  con- 
scious of  its  presence  within,  especially  during  the  last 


86  Mary  Reed 

few  months ;  but  I  feel  the  power  of  God  upon  me  in 
holding  me  quiet.  There  are  days,  too,  when  the  ex- 
ternal symptoms  are  aggravated  and  more  noticeable. 
Then  again,  they  recede.  What  I  pass  through  in  my 
experience  no  one  knows.  The  furnace  is  only  heated 
a  little  hotter.  What  dross  there  must  have  been  in 
my  nature  ! '  she  added.  *  No,  Mary, '  said  I,  *  it  is 
all  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  He  has  honored  you  in 
choosing  you  to  suffer  for  Him,  and  to  show  His 
keeping  power.  Not  you  only,  but  many,  many,  are 
blessed  with  you.'  But  I  felt  deeply  that,  as  far  as 
human  help  was  concerned,  she  was  walking  in  the 
furnace  alone^  and  that  there  was  only  One  who  could 
enter  in  and  comfort  her. 

"Later,  at  the  sweet-toned  organ,  the  gift  of  kind 
friends  in  America,  we  sang  several  hymns,  including 
the  one  beginning,  '  Father,  whate'er  of  earthly  bliss 
Thy  sovereign  will  denies,'  and  the  Christmas  one, 
'  Hark  the  Herald  Angels  sing.'  Then  I  left  to  go  to 
my  tent  which  was  pitched  in  her  yard.  A  gentle 
rain,  almost  snow,  was  falling.  O  blessed  rain,  greatly 
needed  all  over  India.  It  was  as  though,  at  this  holy 
Christmas  time,  the  heavens,  full  of  consolation  and 
peace,  were  gently  brooding  over  a  parched  and  weary 
world. 

''  Christmas  morning  we  were  up  bright  and  early, 
as  it  was  to  be  a  full  day.  After  our  little  breakfast, 
we  went  to  the  dedication  of  a  new  chapel  which  Miss 
Reed  has  built  at  Panahgah,  the  men's  refuge,  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  her  house.  As  I  walked  with 
Miss   Reed  to  the   chapel,  I   realized   the   exquisite 


Christmas  with  the  Lepers  87 

beauty  and  adaptability  of  the  location.  She  has,  as 
Mr.  Bailey  expresses  it,  '  the  whole  side  of  a  moun- 
tain,' and  nature  is  not  niggardly  here.  Those  who 
are  accustomed  to  look  upon  Miss  Reed's  work  from  a 
purely  sentimental  standpoint,  do  not  realize  the  prac- 
tical and  permanent  character  it  bears.  The  Asylum 
for  lepers  which,  formerly,  had  been  all  in  one,  has 
now  been  divided,  and  new  houses  for  the  men  and 
boys  built  on  another  and  separate  portion  of  the  es- 
tate. To  this  locality  we  went.  The  rows  of  neat, 
well-built  houses,  with  many  a  green,  well-kept  garden 
patch,  cultivated  by  the  inmates,  presented  a  pretty 
sight.  The  chapel  has  been  built  this  year.  It  is 
commodious  and  convenient.  The  caretaker  of  the 
men  and  boys  is  Yuhanna,  a  most  valued  servant; 
though  not  afflicted  himself,  he  has,  as  Miss  Reed 
said,  a  genuine  call  for  the  work. 

"  Miss  Reed's  organ  had  already  been  carried  there, 
and  soon  fifty  lepers,  men  and  boys  in  all  stages  of 
the  disease,  were  seated  on  the  clean  matting  in  the 
back  part  of  the  chapel.  The  visitors,  including  Miss 
Budden,  the  preacher  in  charge,  two  native  pastors 
and  myself,  and  a  number  of  sweet-voiced  singers 
from  the  boys'  and  girls'  schools,  Pithora,  occupied 
the  front  part  of  the  chapel.  Large,  open  doors,  fac- 
ing each  other,  furnished  a  draught  of  pure,  fresh  air 
between  us  and  the  afflicted  ones. 

^<  Very  touching  were  the  exercises,  and  very  ear- 
nest and  tender  were  the  prayers  that  went  up  to  the 
Lord,  who,  on  this  day,  made  Himself  of  no  reputa- 
tion, and  took  upon  Him  the  form  of  a  servant,  to 


88  Mary  Reed 

serve  just  such  needy  ones  as  these.  After  these  ex- 
ercises, Miss  Reed  and  I  went  to  distribute  the  warm, 
comfortable  garments  which  had  come  for  the  men  and 
boys.  In  giving  to  these  helpless  people,  or  in  wit- 
nessing the  bestowal  of  gifts  upon  them,  one  may 
enjoy  the  most  unalloyed  pleasure  of  giving.  I 
thought  of  the  givers  far  away  in  Great  Britain,  and 
wished  they  might  have  been  present. 

"  One  old  man  could  not  wait  till  he  reached  his 
house,  but  at  once  slipped  his  new  flannel  shirt  over 
his  other  clothing  !  Oranges  were  distributed  to  all, 
and  an  extra  dinner  of  goat's  meat  and  rice  provided. 

"  Miss  Reed  and  I,  with  full  hearts,  went  back  to 
the  house  for  our  Christmas  lunch,  after  which  there 
was  a  service  for  the  women  and  girls. 

*'  The  sweet  memories  of  this  most  blessed  Christ- 
mas Day  will  ever  remain  with  me." 

A  few  glowing  sentences  from  one  of  Miss  Reed's 
own  letters  will  aptly  close  this  Christmas  chapter. 
''Yesterday  (she  writes),  we  had  the  ;«^j-/ blessed  of 
any  of  the  five  Christmas  Days  I  have  spent  in  this 
work  and  in  this  much-loved  home  of  His  choosing. 
Never  was  the  meaning  of  that  wonderful  word  Im- 
MANUEL  more  consciously  realized  than  during  this 
Christmastide.  Surely,  surely,  the  names  'Wonder- 
ful, Counsellor,  Mighty  God,  Everlasting  Father, 
Prince  of  Peace,'  given  to  our  blessed  Saviour  are 
fitting,— 

"  Oh  !     Sing  of  His  mighty  love, 
Sing  of  His  mighty  love, 
Mighty  to  save." 


XII 

A   VISION   OF   THE   NIGHT 

''For  God  speaketh  .  .  .  in  a  dream,  in  a 
vision  of  the  night."  Whatever  theory  the  reader 
may  entertain  as  to  the  origin  and  purpose  of  dreams, 
the  following  recital  of  one  will,  I  think,  be  found  not 
uninteresting.  The  lucid  account  contained  in  the 
following  letter  requires  neither  introduction  nor  ex- 
planation. I  need  only  premise  that  it  was  written  by 
Miss  Elise  Roper  (now  Mrs.  Buttfield),  a  friend  and 
helper  of  the  Mission  to  Lepers,  to  Miss  Pim. 

''What  place  do  you  think  dreams  hold  in  our 
practical,  everyday  life?  Do  they  always  come  as 
Solomon  says,  'through  the  multitude  of  business,' 
or  are  they  sometimes  sent  to  direct  our  thoughts  into 
a  particular  channel,  or  to  concentrate  them  on  some 
special  object?  Anyhow,  I  have  learned  something 
from  dreams,  and  am  going  to  tell  you  something 
about  two  little  visions  which  have  made  INIiss  Reed  a 
personal  friend  of  mine,  and  the  Asylum  for  Lepers  at 
Pithora  a  reality  it  never  was  to  me  before.  Miss 
Reed's  sad  and  interesting  story  lost  none  of  its  pathos 
in  the  hands  of  the  narrator  who  told  it  me  one  even- 
ing the  week  before  last.  So  the  materials  for  my 
dreams  were  prepared  for  me  before  going  to  bed  that 
89 


90  Mary  Reed 

night.  As  soon  as  I  fell  asleep  I  thought  I  was  sitting 
in  a  room  with  a  bare  floor,  bare  walls,  and  with  little 
or  no  furniture  in  it.  One  side  of  the  room  was  en- 
tirely open  on  a  veranda,  supported  at  intervals  by- 
pillars,  between  which  I  looked  out,  and  saw  first  a 
white,  glaring,  sun-dried  strip  of  ground,  at  one  side 
of  which  was  another  building.  I  could  only  see  a 
corner  from  where  I  sat.  Beyond  this  hot  strip,  and 
sloping  downward  from  it,  was  a  green  and  fertile 
country,  and  beyond  that  rose  mountain  peak  after 
mountain  peak,  in  exquisite  and  majestic  beauty.  I 
took  this  all  in  at  once,  while  feeling  oppressed  with 
an  overwhelming  conviction  that  I  had  a  lot  of  work 
to  do;  indeed,  I  was  in  one  of  my  inward  fusses, 
knowing  that  I  must  get  a  great  deal  done,  but  not 
knowing  in  the  least  what  to  begin  with.  I  knew  I 
was  in  Miss  Reed's  bungalow,  and  longed  to  make  it 
snug  for  her  in  European  style,  with  carpets,  curtains, 
etc.  While  fuming  over  all  I  had  to  do  and  could  not 
begin  I  became  aware  of  a  quiet  presence  in  the  room 
with  me.  It  was  a  lady  seated  in  a  small  armchair 
(the  only  article  of  furniture  in  the  room  besides  the 
stool  I  sat  on)  a  little  way  off  from  me  and  near  the 
edge  of  the  veranda.  I  knew  that  was  Miss  Reed, 
but  did  not  feel  the  least  surprised  to  find  myself  in 
her  company.  I  could  only  see  her  profile,  but  her 
face  seemed  pale  and  thin,  with  small,  delicate  fea- 
tures, her  hair — dark  brown — was  parted  in  the  mid- 
dle, and  done  in  a  knot,  rather  low  down  on  the  back 
of  her  head.  I  thought  how  interesting,  quaint,  and 
intellectual  she  looked,  and  felt  glad  she  was  able  to 


A  Vision  of  the  Night  91 

take  pleasure  in  the  beautiful  view  which  lay  before 
her.  Her  right  elbow  was  on  the  arm  of  her  chair, 
and  she  rested  her  cheek  on  her  right  hand  as  she 
looked  away  from  me  into  the  distance  before  her. 
She  was  dressed  in  some  sort  of  an  indefinite  loose 
garment,  and  altogether  looked  the  perfect  picture  of 
calmness  and  repose,  while  I  frizzled  all  over  with  an 
irrepressible  longing  to  go  at  something  or  another  in 
the  way  of  work. 

"*Miss  Reed,'  I  said,  feeling  as  though  I  were 
continuing  a  conversation  began  before.  *  I  want  to 
begin  at  once,  what  can  I  do?  '  'Thank  you,'  said 
Miss  Reed,  quietly,  *  I  really  don't  think  you  can  do 
anything  just  now.  I  shall  soon  have  everything  I 
want,  and  am  most  happy.'  *  But  look  here,'  said  I, 
feeling  quite  exasperated,  '  you  must  let  me  do  some- 
thing for  you.  Why,  you  want  everything  here,  car- 
pets, chairs,  curtains.  You  haven't  anything  nice 
about  you.'  She  half  turned  toward  me  at  this,  and 
seemed  rather  amused,  for  she  smiled,  and  then  said, 
*  Oh,  you  know  the  Mission  to  Lepers  has  given  me  a 
grant  of  fivepence  for  a  muslin  curtain,  and  that  really 
is  all  I  want.  I  shall  put  it  up  there.'  And  she  pointed 
to  the  space  in  front  of  her  chair,  between  it  and  the 
open  veranda.  Here  I  made  a  few  confused  calcula- 
tions as  to  how  much  art  muslin  it  would  take  to 
drape  the  space  prettily,  and  how  far  the  Society's 
grant  of  fivepence  would  go  in  the  purchase  of  this 
material.  I  then  began  to  reflect,  also  confusedly,  on 
her  marvellous  contentment,  which  kept  her  calm  and 
happy  with  so  much  discomfort  about  her.     During 


92  Mary  Reed 

these  meditations  she  and  the  room  faded  away,  then 
I  dropped  into  a  dreamless  sleep,  or  awoke,  I  am  not 
sure  which,  but  the  feeling  of  longing  for  scope  for 
my  energy  went  on,  and  I  hated  myself  for  doing 
nothing.  Suddenly  I  was  in  the  bare  room  again,  and 
saw  Miss  Reed  standing  before  me,  looking  most 
animated  and  business-like.  Her  full  face  was  to- 
ward me  this  time,  and  now  I  saw  on  the  right  cheek, 
which  before  had  been  turned  away,  a  large,  dark- 
colored  patch,  which  I  felt  was  the  mark  of  that 
dreadful  disease  with  which  she  is  afflicted.  Beside 
her  was  a  great  tub  of  water,  and  she  was  busy  tuck- 
ing up  her  skirt  preparatory,  I  thought,  to  scrubbing 
the  floor.  I  seized  this  opportunity  for  using  up  some 
of  the  energy  I  was  pining  to  devote  to  her  cause,  and, 
dashing  forward,  laid  hold  of  the  tub  with  a  trium- 
phant feeling  of  having  at  last  got  something  to  do. 
But  alas !  in  the  moment  of  triumph,  the  much- 
longed-for  opportunity  slipped  from  me — the  tub  re- 
fused to  be  grasped,  and  I  awoke  with  a  start  to  find 
that  my  *  Mission  to  Lepers '  was  as  yet  unaccom- 
plished, but  with  a  very  vivid  impression  of  having 
had  a  real  interview  with  Miss  Reed.  I  shall  never 
meet  her  in  the  flesh,  but  from  this  time  forward  will 
ever  feel  the  deepest  sympathy  with  her  in  the  sad 
affliction  God  has  permitted  to  come  upon  her,  and 
also  take  special  interest  in  her  work  among  the  poor 
lepers  of  Pithora." 

It  would  appear  from  the  following  letter  of  grate- 
ful thanks  that  this  particular  dream  did  not  vanish 
"like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision  and  leave  not  a 


Three  Burmese  Lepers. 


A  Vision  of  the  Night  93 

wrack  behind."  Unlike  most  dreams  (either  of  the 
day  or  night),  it  seems  to  have  resulted  in  some  tangi- 
ble tokens  of  interest  in  Miss  Reed  and  her  afflicted 
flock.  Under  date  of  December  20th,  1892,  she 
writes  to  Miss  Roper : 

''It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  tell  how  de- 
lighted I  was  to  receive  your  letter  ten  days  ago,  and 
the  beautiful  expressions  of  united  love  of  the  little 
circle  who  prepared  the  petty  'trifles,'  as  you  call 
them,  contained  in  the  box,  which  received  a  welcome 
last  evening.  Each  of  you  must  have  been  greatly 
blessed  indeed  by  Him,  '  who  is  not  unrighteous  to 
forget  your  labor  of  love  which  you  have  shown  to- 
ward His  name,'  for  has  He  not  told  us,  'It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'  And  since  the  ex- 
pressions of  your  kindly  thoughts  and  wishes  have 
been  such  a  blessing  to  my  heart,  how  greatly,  I  say, 
you  must  have  been  blessed  in  giving.  These  pre- 
cious gifts  are  more  highly  valued  because  I  am  sure 
our  loving  Heavenly  Father  prompted  you  to  this  kind 
act,  and  so  I  give  a  grateful  and  cordial  welcome  to 
the  love  which  designed  and  prepared  these  memorials 
— and  they  are  all  so  beautiful,  to,  as  well  as  useful. 
I  do  admire  the  selection  of  these  delicate  colors,  and 
am  so  pleased  with  all  the  articles,  each  of  which  is 
most  acceptable.  This  beautiful  art  muslin  will  be 
useful  in  draping  two  doors,  instead  of  only  the  one 
you  saw  in  your  dream.  (How  very  strange  that  you 
should  dream  about  my  little  home.)  One  door  leads 
from  my  little  sitting-room  into  the  east  veranda,  and 
the  other  into  the  veranda  facing  the  west.     I  had  no 


94  Mary  Reed 

drapery  for  either.  These  beautiful  mottoes  are  in- 
scribed with  precious  texts  which  have  so  often  com- 
forted and  cheered  my  heart.  Over  and  over  again, 
during  the  past  two  years,  have  I  sung  this  favorite 
hymn  (a  copy  of  which  I  enclose)  ^  which  has  so 
voiced  my  experience,  that  it  has  become  peculiarly 
sweet,  since  He  has  enabled  me  trustfully  to  say  and 
to  sing  from  the  depths  of  my  heart,  '  My  times  are  in 
Thy  hand.'     I  find  so  much  help  and  blessing  in 

1 «'  My  times  are  in  Thy  hand," 
My  God,  I  wish  them  there ; 
My  life,  my  friends,  my  soul,  I  leave 
Entirely  to  Thy  care. 

"  My  times  are  in  Thy  hand," 
Whatever  they  may  be  ; 
Pleasing  or  painful,  dark  or  bright, 
As  best  may  seem  to  Thee. 

"  My  times  are  in  Thy  hand ; " 
Why  should  I  doubt  or  fear  ? 
My  Father's  hand  will  never  cause 
His  child  a  needless  tear. 

"  My  times  are  in  Thy  hand," 
Jesus,  the  crucified ! 
The  hand  my  cruel  sins  had  pierced 
Is  novi^  my  guard  and  guide. 

"  My  times  are  in  Thy  hand ;  " 
I'll  always  trust  in  Thee  ; 
And,  after  death,  at  Thy  right  hand 
I  shall  forever  be. 


A  Vision  of  the  Night  95 

song,  and  from  day  to  day,  I  prove  that  ^faith^  hope, 
love,  work  and  song,  cause  sorrow  to  depart.'  Oh, 
how  my  heart  goes  out  in  praise  and  gratitude  to  Him 
who  so  wonderfully  verifies  His  blessed  promise,  '  Lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway.'  With  me,  not  only  keeping 
and  blessing  my  own  soul,  but  He  has  condescended 
to  use  me,  a  poor,  weak  instrument,  in  blessing  others. 
Blessed,  ever  blessed  be  His  Name !  So  many  pre- 
cious testimonies  come  to  me  through  scores  of  letters 
received  from  known  and  unknown  friends,  telling 
me  that  our  Father  is  graciously  using  the  affliction 
He  permits  to  come  on  me  in  touching  hundreds 
of  hearts,  leading  them  to  a  deeper,  fuller  consecra- 
tion to  His  service,  of  time,  strength,  means,  and 
heart.  The  joy  of  being  thus  used  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  His  Kingdom  is,  to  me,  a  richer  feast 
than  millions  of  those  who  enjoy  health  and  all  earth's 
comforts  can  ever  know.  What  infinite  comfort  and 
blessing  in  the  blessed  assurance  that  a  wise  and  lov- 
ing purpose  underlies  the  mysterious  providence  which 
calls  me  to  this  special  service  for  Christ. 

<<I  presume  that  dear  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bailey  keep 
Miss  Pim  (our  Hon.  Sec.)  informed  about  the  growth 
of  all  the  interests  connected  with  this  mission  work, 
both  here  and  elsewhere.  I  endeavor  to  write  very 
frequently  and  very  fully  from  this  outpost,  that  they 
may  be  enabled  to  make  real  to  all  who  are  interested 
in  the  Mission  the  needs  of  my  fellow-sufferers — no,  I 
must  not  say  fellow-sufferers,  for  though  they  do  suffer 
so  much,  the  great  Physician  has  my  case  in  hand,  and 
so  wonderfully  hears  and  answers  the  believing,  im- 


96  Mary  Reed 

portunate  prayers  from  multitudes  of  hearts  being 
offered  for  me,  that  He  wards  off  the  pain,  except 
now  and  again  when  He  lets  me  know  what  they  en- 
dure; but  my  heart  suffers  more  with  them  than  I 
could  ever  do,  should  this  dread  disease  be  allowed  to 
run  its  course  in  this  'house  of  clay.'  So,  in  that 
sense,  I  am  a  fellow-sufferer,  and  oh  !  how  thankful 
am  I,  how  humbly  and  devoutly  thankful,  that  (I  say  it 
with  reverence)  He  does  use  me  in  binding  up  the 
broken-hearted — to  give  unto  them  '  beauty  for  ashes, 
the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  the  garment  of  praise  for 
the  spirit  of  heaviness,  that  they  might  be  called  trees 
of  righteousness,  the  planting  of  the  Lord,  that  He 
might  be  glorified.' 

"My  letter  is  growing  too  long,  but  I  would  like  to 
tell  you  before  closing  that  my  precious  mother's  heart 
will  be  much  touched  by  your  loving-kindness.  I 
shall  send  her  your  letter,  and  a  description  of  each 
article  your  box  contained,  for  no  pleasure  is  complete 
for  me  unless,  so  far  as  it  is  possible,  it  is  shared  with 
her.  And  then,  too,  when  I  tell  you  that  her  mother 
was  born  at  Strabane,  in  the  North  of  Ireland  (her 
maiden  name,  grandmama's,  was  Anderson),  do  you 
not  imagine  her  heart  will  be  touched  by  the  memen- 
toes coming  from  the  land  of  her  mother's  birth- 
place ? 

"Now,  with  more  gratitude  than  words  can  express 
to  each  of  the  dear  sisters  whose  names  you  men- 
tioned, and  whom  I  shall  love  to  think  of  as  praying 
for  this  work  so  dear  to  my  heart,  and  trusting  that 
you  will  pray  that  I  may  have  the  abiding  presence  of 


A  Vision  of  the  Night  97 

the  Holy  Spirit,  that  I  may  be  strengthened  with  all 
might  according  to  His  glorious  power,  unto  all  pa- 
tience and  long-suffering  with  joyfulness. 
''Believe  me, 

"  Yours  very  gratefully, 

"Mary  Reed." 


XIII 

DIVIDED   DUTIES 
(1897) 

Those  who  have  so  far  followed  this  record  of 
steadfast  service  under  conditions  of  exceptional  dif- 
ficulty will  not  be  surprised  to  find  the  strain  begin- 
ning to  tell,  as  Miss  Reed  herself  expresses  it,  on  *'my 
health  as  well  as  on  my  heart. ' '  For  upward  of  five 
years,  with  few  and  brief  intervals  of  rest,  she  had 
been  fulfilling  a  twofold  ministry.  Not  only  was  she 
district  missionary  for  the  Women's  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society,  but  also  Superintendent  of  the  large  and 
growing  Institution  for  Lepers.  In  the  former  capac- 
ity there  devolved  upon  her  the  supervision  of  a  band 
of  native  Biblewomen,  whose  labors  extended  over  a 
wide  area,  as  well  as  much  direct  spiritual  and  educa- 
tional effort,  while,  in  the  work  to  which  she  has  been 
so  specially  called  and  consecrated,  many  duties,  both 
painful  and  exhausting,  had  to  be  personally  per- 
formed. 

Let  the  reader  endeavor  again  to  realize  the  position. 
The  multifarious  duties  arising  from  the  two  depart- 
ments of  work  just  noted ;  dependent  solely  on  very 
limited  native  help,  in  frequent  contact  with  suffering 
and  death  in  its  most  loathsome  form,  and  painfully 
reminded  from  time  to  time  of  the  presence  of  this 
98 


Divided  Duties  99 

most  dreaded  malady  in  her  own  person — no  surprise 
need  be  felt  that  the  strong  brave  spirit  seems  to  falter 
for  a  moment,  and  that  occasionally  the  entries  in  the 
diary  for  this  year  sound  a  despondent  note. 

I  am  glad  to  be  permitted  to  reproduce  some  ex- 
tracts from  Miss  Reed's  daily  journal  for  the  early 
months  of  1897  : 

January  I  St. — "Praise  God  from  whom  all  bless- 
ings flow,"  was  the  first  thought  that  entered  my  mind 
as  I  awoke  at  dawn  on  this  New  Year's  morning;  and 
then  followed  the  precious  promise  "Certainly  I  will 
be  with  Thee."  May  my  heart  and  life  praise  Him 
continually  throughout  the  year  !  I  sat  down  at  my 
organ  and  played  and  sang  — 

Come,  let  us  anew  our  journey  pursue. 

His  adorable  will  let  us  gladly  fulfill, 

And  our  talents  improve, 
By  the  patience  of  hope  and  the  labor  of  love. 

January  3d  (Sunday).— No  message  from  above 
this  morning  when  I  awoke.  Sick  and  in  pain  almost 
all  day.  Misery  indescribable.  Very  stupid  and 
dull,  too.  However,  I  managed  to  teach  the  Sunday- 
school  lesson  to  my  women  and  girls. 

January  4th.— No  message  this  morning  after  a 
wakeful  night.  Worked  at  accounts  and  wrote  letters 
to-day.  Taught  women  and  girls  from  Hebrews, 
chapters  ix.  and  x.,  and  had  a  good  meeting. 

January  loth  (Sunday).— Most  trying  day  of  phys- 


100  Mary   Reed 

ical  suffering.  Much  depressed  mentally,  and  not 
bright  and  happy  spiritually. 

January  12th. — Much  better  to-day.  Lessons  given 
and  letters  written  in  the  morning,  Spent  the  after- 
noon with  Miss  Budden. 

January  24th. — A  blessed  meeting  with  the  women 
to-day,  lesson  from  Ephesians,  chapter  iii. 

January  25th. — Went  to  Panahgah  (the  quarters  for 
the  male  lepers),  but  was  not  able  to  give  the  Bible- 
lesson.     My  throat  too  painful  to  talk  to-day. 

April  1 2th. — A  glorious  day!  My  heart  rejoices 
with  joy  unspeakable  over  Tarwa's  conversion.  His 
face  is  so  bright  and  his  heart  so  happy,  it  delights  my 
soul  to  look  at  him.  The  Sunday-school  lesson  yes- 
terday, **The  Conversion  of  Cornelius,"  affected  him 
deeply,  and  after  an  almost  sleepless  night — spent  in 
prayer,  he  says — he  was  converted  in  the  early  morn- 
ing in  his  little  room  at  Chandag.  Now  that  he  knows 
Christ's  power  to  save,  and  to  forgive  sins,  may  he 
know  also  His  power  to  keep  and  be  eternally  saved  ! 

April  24th. — A  glorious  victory  Tarwa  won  to-day 
through  the  grace  and  strength  that  Jesus  gave  him. 
We  had  a  solemn  time  with  his  mother  and  brother, 
and  finally  they  yielded  for  him  to  be  freed  from  per- 
forming the  idolatrous  ceremony  on  the  anniversary  of 
his  father's  death  to-morrow. 

April  25  th. — A  blessed  day.    I  went  down  to  Pithora 

to  hear  Mr. preach,  and  was  so  delighted  to  meet 

Tarwa  and  his  brother  with  their  faces  toward  Chan- 
dag, on  their  way  from  Sunday-school,  instead  of  go- 
ing home  to-day.     They  knew  the  Brahmin  priest  was 


Divided  Duties  loi 

coming  to  perform  the  ceremony  of  their  father's 
sharad.  They  were  absent,  and  thus  Satan  was  foiled. 
They  are  by  this  brave  act  set  free  from  idolatry. 
May  the  Son  make  them  ' '  free  indeed  !  ' ' 

These  earlier  entries  give  us  a  glimpse  of  the  times 
of  bodily  suffering  and  mental  weariness,  which  have* 
been  so  minimized  by  Miss  Reed  in  the  many  letters 
used  in  the  preparation  of  this  biography.  It  is  well 
that  the  veil  should  be  so  far  Hfted,  in  order  that  the 
sympathy  to  which  she  is  entitled,  and  the  prayers  she 
so  much  values  should  be  called  forth.  These  selec- 
tions from  Miss  Reed's  diary  may  be  supplemented  by 
the  following  record  of  one  day's  duties — a  specimen 
doubtless  of  many — (Wednesday,  October  5th)  : 

"Immediately  after  chota  hazri  went  to  the  Hos- 
pital and  spent  more  than  an  hour  giving  directions 
and  seeing  them  carried  out,  about  the  making  of  the 
concrete  floors. 

*'  Called  and  examined  my  class  of  six  boys  in  Hindi 
I  St  book.  They  are  making  good  progress  for  boys 
who  suffer  so  much — poor  fellows  !  I  hope  they  will 
be  ready  by  Christmas  to  read  the  Testament  intelli- 
gently. 

''  Next,  a  call  from  some  villagers,  pleading  for  a 
school  for  their  village. 

''Settled  down  with  account-books,  on  camp-stool 
in  veranda  of  Hospital,  so  as  to  oversee  the  workmen 
and  do  accounts.     An  hour  spent  thus. 

''  Call  from  native  preacher  in  charge  of  Pithora, 
who  called  for  my  report  of  the  schools  for  his  annual 
report. 


102  Mary  Reed 

**  Another  hour  given  to  carpenters  and  accounts. 
Home  to  breakfast  at  twelve  o'clock. 

' '  After  breakfast  called  a  woman,  one  of  my  helpers, 
herself  a  sufferer ;  gave  her  carbolic  soap  and  direc- 
tions for  bathing  and  dressing  wounds  of  a  new  case, 
recently  admitted.  Gave  out  clothing  for  another  new 
woman. 

<' Went  to  look  after  people  cutting  grass  and  mak- 
ing hay.  Returned  home,  swept  and  dusted,  and  set 
my  house  in  order.     Transplanted  some  pansies. 

"Had  lunch,  and  then  called  to  see  Miss  Sheldon.^ 
Called  to  see  the  cook's  son,  and  gave  him  some  med- 
icine. Spent  another  hour  with  carpenters.  Then,  a 
wild-goose  chase  to  see  a  lame  woman,  who  sent  word 
pleading  for  admittance  to  the  Asylum.  Not  a  leper, 
only  wanted  food  and  clothing.     Not  admitted. 

"Rang  the  bell  to  assemble  people  for  service. 
Gave  lesson,  and  then  at  sunset  walked  down  the  hill 
half  a  mile  and  back. 

"  I  trudged  up  the  hill,  stopping  to  see  Dr.  S.,  then 
came  home  to  dinner,  read  for  an  hour  or  so,  and 
finally  scribbled  these  notes  of  my  day's  work." 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  how  the  lives  of  the  lepers  are 
brightened  and  their  characters  improved  by  their  ex- 
periences in  the  Asylum.  Evidence  of  this  is  afforded 
us  in  a  letter  giving  some  particulars  for  the  informa- 
tion of  those  who  have  kindly  become  responsible  for 
the  support  of  individual  inmates.  Respecting  some 
of  these  Miss  Reed  writes : 

1  Dr.  Sheldon  was  on  one  of  her  occasional  visits  to  the 
neighborhood,  from  her  station  in  Bhot. 


Divided  Duties  103 

**  Chandra,  a  woman  of  thirty  years  or  upward,  is 
growing  in  usefulness,  and  during  the  past  year  has 
become  one  of  my  three  matrons.  She  has  the  over- 
sight and  care  of  six  or  seven  women  and  girls,  to 
whom  she  is  learning  to  minister  help.  She  used  to 
be  a  most  selfish  mortal,  and  the  joy  of  ser\ice  is  a 
new  one  to  her.  Strange  to  say,  she  is  more  healthy 
now  that  her  soul-life  has  begun  to  prosper. 

*'  Farli  is  a  girl  of  about  seventeen,  who  has  been 
here  only  five  months,  but  has  improved  wonderfully 
in  that  time,  just  by  being  an  attentive  listener  while 
our  Christians  were  being  taught  their  little  catechism. 
She  learned  to  repeat  the  whole  of  this  with  only  one 
slight  mistake.  Her  heart  seems  permeated  with  the 
blessed  influence  in  the  lives  of  Kaliyani,  and  her  own 
sister  Rebli,  and  others  who  take  delight  in  teaching 
her  of  Christ.  She  would  receive  baptism  to-morrow 
if  permitted  to  do  so,  but  I  cannot  consent  to  it  until 
she  experiences  an  outright  change  of  heart.  I  shall, 
however,  pray  and  look  for  her  conversion.  She  is 
learning  to  read,  and  was  so  happy  two  or  three  days 
ago,  when  I  told  her  I  would  ask  special  prayer  for  her 
(This  prayer  was  answered,  and  on  August  13th  Parli 
joyfully  confessed  Christ  in  baptism). 

<'  Kaliyani  is  a  real  deaconess  in  her  works  of  love, 
untiring  in  her  ministry,  and  manifesting  the  sweet 
spirit  of  the  Master.  She  is  a  blessing  to  all  and  a 
great  joy  and  comfort  to  me.  She  is  very  happy  that 
you  have  enrolled  her  trying  brother  Nankiya  in  your 
list  to  be  prayed  for.  Verily  a  change  does  seem  to  be 
coming  over  him.     He  has  sufl'ered  much  lately,  his 


104  Mary   Reed 

feet  have  been  in  a  terrible  condition.  He,  too,  is 
reading  the  New  Testament  daily  with  a  teacher. 

^^  Dipahy  poor  little  girl,  has  become  more  of  a  suf- 
ferer, and  it  makes  my  heart  ache  to  witness  her  suf- 
ferings— such  a  gentle  little  thing  she  is.  The  disease 
makes  much  progress  in  her  little  brother  Rupwa.  He 
is  much  disfigured  and  is  hard  of  hearing. 

'*  Gauri  Datt  is  growing  in  knowledge  and  years 
and  is  a  great  comfort  to  Yuhanna,  because  he  is  de- 
veloping into  a  most  earnest  Christian.  The  disease 
makes  much  progress  in  his  case. 

'^  Har  Singh  has  become  a  teacher  of  the  men  and 
boys  who  read  and  of  those  who  are  learning.  He 
goes  down  to  Panahgah  from  his  home  here  (his  par- 
ents are  at  Chandag)  four  times  during  the  week  to 
teach  his  classes.  His  father  and  mother  suffer  ter- 
ribly and  almost  constantly.  Har  Singh  repeated  the 
Catechism  from  beginning  to  end  to  me  this  week 
without  one  single  mistake.  I  do  not  teach  this 
by  rote  either,  but  ask  many  questions,  bringing 
out  all  the  many  good  points  in  this  excellent  little 
book." 

These  notes  of  special  cases  may  be  supplemented 
by  an  extract  in  which  Miss  Reed  speaks  of  the  effect 
of  her  work  on  the  lives  of  her  inmates  in  more  gen- 
eral terms. 

"As  to  the  spiritual  life  among  my  dear  people  at 
Chandag  Heights,  I  am  deeply  gratified  to  be  able  to 
say  my  heart  is  often  made  happy  by  evidences  that 
other  hearts  have  been  made  new.  The  Holy  Spirit's 
blessed  influence  permeates,  teaches,  and  enlightens 


Divided  Duties  105 

minds,  and  comforts  hearts  that  used  to  be  filled  with 
only  thoughts  of  self  seemingly." 

Chandra  tasting  the  joy  of  unselfish  service ;  Parli 
drinking  in  the  Divine  teaching,   influenced  by  the 
lives  of  others ;  Kaliyani  showing  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
in  her  steadfast  service;  little  Dipah  bearing  her  terri- 
ble  sufferings   with   gentle   submission;    Gauri   Datt 
growing  in  the  spiritual  life;  Har  Singh  gladly  teach- 
ing his  fellow-sufferers ;  besides  the  fruit  of  the  spirit 
manifested  in  many  others ;  these  are  cheering  points 
of  light,  as  they  shine  out  from  the  dense  darkness  of 
heathen  ignorance  and  of  foul  disease.     Let  it  be  re- 
membered that  these  are  they  that  are  counted  un- 
clean or  outcast  by  all  save  the  Christian  Missionary, 
and  that,  apart  from  such  beneficent  work  as  that  of 
Mary  Reed,  they  would  almost  certainly  be  enduring 
the  wretched  lot  of  the  homeless  leper.     This  surely 
is  to  find  the  jewel  in  the  mud,  and  to  cause  the  desert 
to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

As  the  question  of  Miss  Reed's  health,  and  the  prog- 
ress or  otherwise  of  the  disease  in  her  own  case,  is  to 
many,  of  equal  interest  with  the  story  of  her  work, 
quotations  from  two  letters  of  1897  are  appended, 
which  reveal  some  of  her  experiences  in  this  respect. 
In  touching  on  this  subject,  I  wish  as  far  as  may  be, 
to  imitate  the  reticence  which  characterizes  all  her 
own  references  to  it.  An  obvious  shrinking  from  the 
use  of  the  words  *Meper"  and  "leprosy,"  together 
with  a  brave  determination  to  make  the  very  least 
of  her  symptoms  and  sufferings,  give  added  weight 
to   the   mildly   expressed    allusions   to   be   found   in 


io6  Mary  Reed 

Miss  Reed's  letters,  and  of  which  the  following  are 
specimens : 

February  6th,  1897. — "I,  myself,  am  not  in  the 
best  of  health.  I  have  some  very  trying  sieges,  though 
there  is  no  cause  for  anxiety.  I  am  kept  through  all. 
.  .  .  The  *  Friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a 
brother '  is  so  tender,  and  His  presence  is  salvation 
from  sin  and  from  care.     His  love  satisfieth." 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year  the  shadow  of  suffer- 
ing seems  to  be  falling  more  darkly  over  her  life.  In 
November  she  writes:  "My  throat  is  becoming 
much  affected  by  disease,  and  is  often  very  painful, 
and  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not  talk  and  sing  more  than  I 
do  in  my  work  among  my  own  people,  during  the 
coming  year.  I  am  becoming  a  fellow-sufferer,  with 
many  of  them.  Their  throats  cause  them  much  pain. 
A  certain  type  of  the  disease  has  affected  a  dozen  or 
more  of  those  now  here.  Some  have  lost  their  voices 
entirely,  and  suffer  agony  at  times  to  get  breath. 
They  are  all  praying  much  for  me  lately,  and  dread 
to  see  me  suffer.  I  am  alone  this  month,  as  Yuhanna 
has  gone  to  Naini  Tal  to  attend  District  Conference. 
I  miss  his  help  much.  I  go  to  Panahgah  to  have 
service  with  the  men  and  boys  every  day  and  to  min- 
ister to  the  sick  ones,  of  whom  there  are  a  goodly 
number  who  are  in  an  indescribable  condition  just 
now." 

A  very  pleasant  experience  may  find  a  record  at  this 
point.  In  May  of  the  year  under  review  Miss  Reed 
had  the  great  enjoyment  of  meeting  her  co-workers  of 
the   Women's   Foreign   Missionary   Society   at    their 


Divided  Duties  107 

Sanatorium  in  the  hills  above  Almora.  Thither,  at 
their  cordial  invitation,  she  journeyed  for  fifty  miles, 
camping  in  her  little  Swiss-cottage  tent,  which  also 
formed  her  dwelling  during  her  sojourn  with  her 
friends.  It  was  pitched  in  the  shade  of  an  evergreen 
tree  in  the  lovely  grounds  of  the  Institution,  and 
beautified  -by  her  sister  missionaries  with  flowers  and 
shrubs  and  creeping  plants. 

The  gracious  act  of  these  friends  in  welcoming  her 
into  their  midst  once  more  was  much  appreciated  by 
Miss  Reed.  Not  only  for  her  own  sake  did  she  value 
it,  but  also  for  the  assurance  it  would  give  to  her  dear 
home  circle  that  the  disease  was  being  kept  in  check, 
and  had  not  as  yet  developed  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
render  her  an  absolute  exile. 

If  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  has  specially  fitted  His 
servant  by  painful  experience  to  labor  in  this  difficult 
work,  it  is  that  she  may  reap  many  golden  sheaves 
from  a  field  which,  to  human  eye,  would  appear  so 
unpromising  and  uninviting.  At  the  close  of  1897, 
we  find  eighty-five  lepers  being  sheltered  and  cared 
for  in  the  Asylum,  of  whom  sixty-seven  had  confessed 
their  faith  in  Christ  by  baptism,  and  in  many  of  whose 
lives  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  was  being  manifested. 
This  large  proportion  of  conversions  testifies  power- 
fully to  the  fruitful  character  of  Christian  work  among 
this  afflicted  class.  The  outcast  leper  is  preeminently 
ready  for  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  With  no  help  from 
his  kindred,  no  hope  from  his  religion,  no  remedy  for 
his  disease,  no  means  of  subsistence,  he  is  surely,  of  all 
men,   most  miserable.     When  to   people  in   such   a 


io8  Mary  Reed 

plight  as  this  the  Christian  Asylum  offers  freely  food, 
clothing,  and  shelter,  as  well  as  bodily  relief  and 
spiritual  hope,  small  wonder  that  the  lepers  are  found 
pressing  into  the  Kingdom.  It  may  well  be  ques- 
tioned whether  any  form  of  missionary  and  philan- 
thropic effort  better  repays  the  self-sacrificing  labor 
and  the  money  expended  upon  it  than  this  work  of 
caring  for  the  bodies  and  souls  of  God's  lepers. 


XIV 

LIGHT   AND    SHADE 

(1898) 

The  Autumn  of  1897  found  Miss  Reed  so  weary 
and  worn  physically  that  she  was  at  length  obliged  to 
seek  relief  from  further  service  as  a  missionary  of  the 
American  Society,  whose  representative  she  had  been 
since  her  arrival  in  India  in  1884.  The  severe  de- 
mands of  her  special  work  among  the  lepers,  together 
with  the  subtle  inroads  of  disease,  had  at  length  made 
this  step  imperative.  The  final  severance  of  official 
relations  with  her  old  Society  did  not,  however,  take 
place  till  October,  1898,  at  which  date  Miss  Reed  en- 
tered upon  undivided  service  for  the  Mission  to  Lep- 
ers in  India  and  the  East.  The  committee  gratefully 
recognized  the  valuable  service  she  had  already  ren- 
dered them,  and  thankfully  accepted  her  offer  of  <?«//><? 
devotion  to  their  special  work.  When  it  is  borne  in 
mind  that  the  management  of  this  large  institution 
devolved  upon  Miss  Reed,  assisted  only  by  one  care- 
taker and  one  servant,  both -.natives,  it  will  be  recog- 
nized that  work,  more  than  enough  for  the  strongest, 
lay  ready  to  her  hand.  The  supply  of  sufficient  and 
suitable  food,  the  simple,  but  very  necessary,  medical 
treatment,  the  directly  religious  work,  comprising 
many  services,  classes,  and  meetings  for  prayer,  the 
109 


no  Mary  Reed 

correspondence  and  bookkeeping,  the  general  super- 
vision— all  these,  plus  the  incessant  incidental  claims 
upon  time,  strength,  and  sympathy,  surely  demand  an 
expenditure  of  physical  and  spiritual  energy  which  can 
only  be  made  good  by  ''the  supply  of  the  Spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  and  by  a  constant  waiting  upon  God 
for  the  renewal  of  daily  strength. 

In  a  letter  to  the  headquarters  of  her  Society  in 
America,  Miss  Reed  says  :  **  I  must  be  free  after  Oc- 
tober loth,  1898,  from  the  very  unsatisfactory  effort  I 
have  been  making  for  nearly  seven  years  to  serve  in 
two  capacities.  .  .  .  From  my  childhood  I  could 
never  do  things  by  halves,  and  have  a  satisfied  heart 
and  mind,  and  as  the  years  have  passed  since  I  came 
to  these  Heights  I  have  found  the  eifort  to  do  two 
things,  /.  e.f  serve  under  the  auspices  of  two  Societies, 
increasingly  difficult.  And  now  that  disease — though 
so  slightly  manifest  outwardly,  thank  God  for  His 
tender  mercy — affects  my  throat  more  and  more,  and 
preys  upon  my  system,  I  do  not  feel  equal,  physically 
or  mentally,  to  try  longer  to  serve  in  two  capacities. 
And,  whereas  I  have  recently  been  adopted  by  the 
entire  Committee  of  the  Mission  to  Lepers  ...  I 
trust  you  will  give  me  leave  to  reply  that  this  change 
may  take  place  on  October  ist,  1898.  I  fix  that  date 
in  order  to  complete  my  fourteen  years  in  connection 
with  the  W.  F.  M.  Society.  I  shall  ever  continue,  as  I 
have  time  and  strength  given,  over  and  above  that 
needed  for  the  special  service  for  which  I  have  been 
'set  apart,*  to  help,  when  and  where  I  can,  in  this 
end  of  the  earth — so  full  of  opportunities  to  proclaim 


Light  and  Shade  m 

salvation,  full  and  free,  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord." 

Very  brief  quotations  from  the  replies  of  the  two 
Secretaries  of  the  American  Society  will  suffice  to  show 
that  the  facts  of  the  case  were  recognized  by  them, 
and  that  they  regarded  Miss  Reed's  request  as  a  rea- 
sonable one. 

Mrs.  Cowen  writes  in  terms  of  warm  appreciation 
and  continues,  ''  I  am  glad  you  have  given  up,  or  will 
give  up,  your  double  work.  It  has  been  too  much  for 
any  woman  to  do  and  do  justice  to  herself,  even  if  she 
had  good  health." 

Mrs.  Stevens  says  :  '<  I  am  confident  that  the  work 
of  the  Mission  (to  Lepers)  is  all  you  can  do  without 
overburdening  yourself,  and  we  would  not  have  you 
do  that." 

These  frank  and  kindly  assurances  enabled  Miss 
Reed  to  enter  hopefully  on  the  closing  period  of  her 
dual  service,  during  which  time  considerable  itinerat- 
ing work  was  accomplished  in  the  regions  lying  around 
the  Shor  district,  among  the  many  villages  of  which 
Miss  Reed  had  now  for  seven  years  gone  teaching  and 
preaching  Jesus  Christ,  and  whence  doubtless  fruit  of 
her  efforts  will  be  seen  in  the  day  when  every  laborer's 
work  shall  be  made  manifest. 

From  an  interesting  letter,  dated  June  i6th,  1898, 
we  take  the  following  extract : 

''This  is  an  exquisitely  beautiful  morning — clouds 
and  sunshine  chase  each  other  over  the  mountains, 
hills,  and  valleys  that  lie  within  my  range  of  vision. 
There  is  a  break  in  the  rains  to-day — the  monsoon  set 


112  Mary  Reed 

in  up  here  in  May  this  year,  a  whole  month  earUer 
than  usual.  I  have  brought  my  writing  materials, 
with  chair  and  table,  into  the  front  (east)  veranda  to 
get  the  benefit  of  the  delicious  atmosphere  and  to  en- 
joy the  beauty  of  the  fleecy,*  flitting  clouds,  and  the 
smiling  landscape,  of  which  I  have  a  magnificent  view 
from  my  lofty  and  lovely  abiding-place. 

"As  I  have  been  writing  to  you,  and  looking  out 
now  and  again  upon  the  beautiful  scene  before  me,  I 
have  recalled  to  mind  a  gem  from  Ruskin,  he  who  so 
loves  the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good.  I  must 
share  it  with  you — so  here  it  is,  an  extract  from  one 
of  my  treasures  :  ^  There  is  not  a  moment  in  any  day 
of  our  lives  when  Nature  is  not  producing  scene  after 
scene,  picture  after  picture,  glory  after  glory,  and 
working  still  upon  such  exquisite  and  constant  prin- 
ciples of  the  most  perfect  beauty,  that  it  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  it  is  all  done  for  us  and  intended  for  our  per- 
petual pleasure.  The  sky  is  fitted,  in  all  its  functions, 
for  the  perpetual  comfort  and  exalting  of  the  heart ; 
for  soothing  it,  and  purifying  it  from  its  dross  and 
dust.  Sometimes  gentle,  sometimes  capricious,  some- 
times awful ;  almost  human  in  its  passions,  almost 
spiritual  in  its  tenderness,  almost  Divine  in  its  infinity, 
its  appeal  to  what  is  immortal  in  us  is  as  distinct  as  its 
ministry  of  chastisement  or  of  blessing  to  what  is 
mortal  is  essential.'  " 

But  when  we  turn  from  the  lovely  and  suggestive 
scenes  of  nature  in  some  of  her  sublimest  aspects,  to 
the  effects  of  sin  and  disease  on  what  should  be  the 
noblest  part  of  God's  creation,  sad  reflections  await  us. 


Light  and  Shade  113 

In  this  same  letter  we  read  of  an  event  which  (and  not 
for  the  first  time)  deeply  grieved  the  heart  of  this 
friend  of  the  friendless.  This  was  the  flight  from  the 
sheltering,  though  at  the  same  time  restraining,  care 
of  the  Asylum,  of  two  couples  who  broke  away, 
there  is  too  much  cause  to  fear,  to  a  life  of  sin.  Since 
separate  quarters  had  been  provided  for  the  male  in- 
mates at  Panahgah,  in  1895,  Miss  Reed  had  been 
spared  this  particular  form  of  trouble.  Being  both 
missionary  and  mother  to  her  flock,  such  a  trial  as 
this  would  in  any  case  have  been  keenly  felt,  but  it 
derived  an  added  pang  from  the  circumstance  that  one 
of  the  runaways  was  a  young  girl,  only  thirteen  years 
of  age,  of  whom  Miss  Reed  had  made  a  special  com- 
panion, and  for  whom  she  felt  a  special  affection. 
While  she  could  be  kept  in  close  association  with  her 
benefactress  this  poor  child  was  safe  and  happy,  but 
the  disease  had  in  time  so  disfigured  her  that  her 
transfer  to  the  women's  quarters  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary. Here  she  fell  under  the  evil  influence  of  a 
wicked  and  hypocritical  woman,  who  finally  induced 
three  others  to  accompany  her  in  her  flight.  (It  may 
be  added  that  this  girl  and  her  companion,  a  young 
man  of  eighteen,  have  both  since  returned  with  pro- 
fessions, apparently  sincere,  of  penitence  and  regret.) 
Such  an  incident  need  occasion  no  surprise,  and 
should  certainly  suggest  no  question  as  to  the  kind 
supervision  exercised  in  this  or  in  any  of  the  Asylums 
of  the  Mission  to  Lepers.  The  inevitable  restraint 
and  mild  discipline  of  institutional  life  form  a  contrast 
to  the  unbridled  license  of  the  homeless  leper's  wan- 


114  Mary  Reed 

dering  existence.  Herding  together  in  encampments 
or  colonies,  these  outcasts  from  the  common  life  are 
exempt  alike  from  moral  influence  and  legal  supervi- 
sion. In  thousands  and  thousands  of  cases  the  one 
thing  the  authorities  do  for  these  miserable  people  is — 
to  leave  them  alone  !  Losing  by  their  leprosy  almost 
all  that  makes  life  dear,  they  gain  liberty,  at  least,  and 
who  can  wonder  that  liberty  with  them  means  license 
to  live  as  they  list — a  law  unto  themselves  ?  Gathered 
in,  in  most  cases,  from  an  existence  of  aimless  wan- 
dering and  unbridled  restraint,  it  speaks  eloquently  of 
the  kindness  and  comfort  they  meet  with  in  the  Asy- 
lums that  instances  of  flight  are  so  rare.  The  follow- 
ing testimony,  given  recently  by  His  Honor  the  Lieu- 
tenant Governor  of  Bengal,  respecting  the  Society's 
large  asylum  at  Purulia  may  be  quoted  here,  as  it 
would  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  institution  under 
Miss  Reed's  care :  *'  I  have  been  greatly  impressed  by 
my  visit  to  this  asylum.  It  has  now  upward  of  500 
inmates,  and  the  sight  of  so  great  a  company  of 
stricken  people  would  have  been  most  distressing  had 
it  not  been  for  the  surprising  contentment  of  their 
bearing.  No  leper  is  sent  by  the  authorities,  and  no 
wall  prevents  an  inmate  from  leaving,  and  yet  the 
numbers  rapidly  grow — evidence  of  the  constant  kind- 
ness and  sympathy  with  which  the  poor  creatures  are 
treated.  I  have  seen  no  more  truly  benevolent  work 
in  India  than  this." 

The  question  of  occupation  and  medical  treatment 
are  of  great  importance  in  connection  with  work  among 
lepers.     Any  form  of  work,  or  even  of  pastime,  which 


Light  and  Shade  115 

relieves  the  tedium  of  their  weary  days  and  gives  them 
the  sense  of  being  useful  is  helpful  to  them,  acting,  as 
it  does,  as  a  kind  of  mental  tonic.  But  it  is  only  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  the  malady  that  they  are  capable 
of  even  the  simplest  forms  of  labor.  Writing  of  some 
of  her  less  afflicted  inmates,  Miss  Reed  says  :  "Every 
day,  from  nine  o'clock  to  four  or  five  p.  m.,  they  graze 
the  cows.  I  arranged  this  that  they  might  be  kept  in 
the  pure  air,  and  as  much  as  possible  away  from  those 
in  whom  the  disease  has  made  more  headway.  I  give 
them  in  the  first  stages  medicine  three  times  a  day,  to 
arrest  further  progress  as  long  as  it  may  be  possible. 
They  are  all  improving  so  nicely.  There  is  now  not 
one  mark  on  Punnia,  except  a  faint  reddish  tinge  oc- 
casionally on  her  cheeks  where  there  were  marks  when 
first  the  disease  appeared."  Gardening  is  both  a  pleas- 
ant and  useful  form  of  occupation  for  those  less  af- 
fected, who  are  also  encouraged  to  do  all  in  their  power 
for  others  who  have  become  practically  helpless.  At 
the  close  of  1898  Miss  Reed  reports  twenty  inmates  as 
either  able  to  read  or  learning  to  do  so,  nearly  half  of 
this  number  having  learned  since  their  admission. 
Two  interesting  and  encouraging  Bible  classes  were 
also  being  conducted  by  Miss  Reed — one  at  Chandag 
Heights  for  the  women  and  girls,  and  one  at  Panah- 
gah  for  the  men  and  boys.  In  addition  to  these  classes 
and  other  services,  the  children  in  the  little  commun- 
ity were  being  taught  to  read,  and  were  learning  to  be 
helpful  to  others. 

Of  the  seventy-nine  inmates  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
fifty-five  were  Christians  and  twenty-four  non-Chris- 


ii6  Mary  Reed 

tians.  Nine  died  during  the  twelve  months,  of  whom 
six  gave  good  evidence  that  they  passed  away  in  the 
faith  of  Christ  and  in  hope  of  a  perfect  Hfe  hereafter. 
Among  the  new  admissions  were  two  girls, — one  from 
distant  Meenit,  and  the  other  from  Bareilly — the  latter 
from  a  Girls'  Boarding  School  in  connection  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission. 


XV 


THE   PRAYER   OF   FAITH 
(1899) 

The  most  notable  event  in  Miss  Reed's  experience 
of  this  year  was  her  visit  to  Lucknow  in  January- 
February.  She  journeyed  thither  at  the  unanimous 
request  of  the  Missionaries  of  the  Women's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  (of  America),  with  whom  she  had 
been  so  long  associated,  and  who,  at  their  North  India 
Conference  in  1898,  had  passed  the  following  resolu- 
tion :  "  That,  as  year  by  year,  we  hear  that  our  sister, 
Mary  Reed,  is  not  only  continuing  in  active  service, 
but  is  also  in  better  general  health  than  in  former 
years,  we  assure  her  of  our  sincere  gratitude  to  God 
for  His  great  goodness  to  her,  and  of  our  prayers  that 
He  will  bless  all  her  service  in  His  name,  and  we  send 
her  a  hearty  invitation  to  attend  our  Annual  Confer- 
ence (of  January,  1899),  ^-nd  to  give  us  the  joy  of  wel- 
coming her  in  our  midst  once  more." 

In  accordance  with  this  invitation.  Miss  Reed 
packed  up  her  camp  outfit  and  made  the  eight  days' 
journey  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  in  the  congenial 
company  of  her  dear  friend,  and  sister-Missionary, 
Dr.  Sheldon.  From  Kathgodam,  eighteen  or  twenty 
hours  by  rail  brought  them  to  Lucknow,  where  a  right 
royal  welcome  was  accorded  to  her  who  had  been  for 
117 


ii8  Mary  Reed 

nine  years  absent  from  the  gatherings  of  her  col- 
leagues. Profound  gratitude  was  the  uppermost  feel- 
ing in  Miss  Reed's  mind,  at  finding  herself  once  more 
assembled  with  so  many  friends  and  fellow-workers, 
and  when  Bishop  Thoburn  summoned  her  to  the  front 
with  a  request  that  she  should  address  the  audience, 
she  felt  unable  to  utter  any  words  but  those  of  praise. 
As  she  stood  before  that  great  company,  the  desire 
was  flashed  into  her  mind  to  express  her  thanksgiving 
in  song.  She  simply  said,  "ham  git  gawen  "  (let  us 
sing)  ;  and  joyfully  hearts  and  voices  went  up  to  God, 
in  the  beautiful  Hindustani  translation  of  the  fine  old 
hymn  — 

O  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing 
My  great  Redeemer's  praise, 

The  glories  of  my  God  and  King, 
The  triumphs  of  His  grace  ! 

The  experiences  of  these  days  at  Lucknow  were  at 
once  sweet  and  bitter.  Sweet,  because  of  loving  wel- 
comes from  so  many  from  whom  she  had  been  long 
severed,  and  because  the  greeting  so  often  was,  ''  How 
well  you  look."  While  these  friends  marvelled  at  the 
wonderful  degree  of  health  restored  to  Miss  Reed, 
they  also  rejoiced  with  her  to  recognize  the  hand  of 
God  in  it,  and  to  see  how  He  was  crowning  His  serv- 
ant with  loving  kindness  and  tender  mercies.  Among 
the  privileges  most  valued  by  her  were  interviews  with 
the  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer,  to  which  reference  is  made  in 
the  introduction  to  this  volume,  and  which  were 
amongst  the  most  inspiring  of  Mr.  Meyer's  experi- 
ences in  India. 


The  Prayer  of  Faith  119 

It  is  perhaps  scarcely  a  matter  for  surprise  that  some 
showed  a  tendency  to  shrink  from  intimate  associa- 
tion with  one  who  had  been  for  years  ''without  the 
camp,"  owing  to  the  taint  of  this  most  dreaded  dis- 
ease. Miss  Reed  frankly  admitted  the  reasonableness 
of  this  attitude,  and  showed  then,  as  always,  the  ut- 
most solicitude  for  the  safety  of  those  with  whom  she 
was  brought  into  close  contact. 

But  the  really  ''  bitter  "  drop  in  her  cup  at  this  time 
was  the  pronouncement  of  a  self-appointed  body  of 
four  medical  missionaries  that  the  disease  from  which 
Miss  Reed  had  so  long  suffered  was  not  leprosy  at  all. 
While  differing  materially  among  themselves  as  to  the 
real  nature  of  the  malady  which  for  nine  years  or  more 
had  driven  this  brave  soul  into  exile,  they  more  than 
hinted  their  scepticism  as  to  her  ever  having  contracted 
this  most  dreaded  of  all  diseases. 

This  opinion,  however  hastily  arrived  at,  having 
been  expressed  by  those  possessing  apparently  some 
medical  qualification,  necessitates  a  restatement  of  the 
evidence  against  which  their  hasty  dictum  was  placed. 

After  many  months  of  perplexity  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  complaint  which  first  attacked  the  forefinger,  and 
subsequently  further  betrayed  itself  by  a  mark  on  the 
cheek,  Miss  Reed  became  at  length  convinced  that 
leprosy  had  overtaken  her.  In  this  conviction  she 
was  confirmed  by  the  decision  of  several  eminent 
medical  men,  whose  names  will  be  recognized  as  those 
of  leading  authorities  on  this  class  of  disease.  Their 
opinions,  it  should  be  added,  were  arrived  at  in  every 
instance  after  close  personal  examination.   Miss  Reed's 


120  Mary  Reed 

case  was  diagnosed  as  one  of  undoubted  leprosy  by 
the  following  specialists,  who  examined  her  in  the  order 
named  :  Dr.  P.  A.  Morrow,  of  New  York  City,  who 
is  regarded  by  the  profession  in  America  as  their 
highest  authority;  Sir  Joseph  Fayrer,  K.C.S.I.,  M. 
D.,  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Hutchinson,  F.R.C.S.,  of  Lon- 
don, both  members  of  the  Committee  of  the  National 
Leprosy  Fund ;  Dr.  Chowsky,  physician  of  the  Bom- 
bay Leper  Asylum ;  and,  lastly,  Dr.  Condon,  a  med- 
ical man  of  many  years  Indian  experience.  To  this 
body  of  medical  testimony  may  be  added  the  decided 
opinion  of  Mr.  Wellesley  C.  Bailey,  the  secretary  and 
superintendent  of  the  Mission  to  Lepers,  who  spent 
some  days  with  Miss  Reed  in  1895,  ^^^^  felt  no  doubt 
whatever  as  to  the  nature  of  her  disease.  Mr. 
Bailey's  opinion  derives  weight  from  his  experience  of 
work  among  lepers,  and  from  many  years  special  study 
of  the  subject. 

To  all  this  is  to  be  added  the  fact  that  Miss  Reed 
herself  has  never  faltered  in  her  conviction  that  she 
was  ''set  apart  "  by  personal  experience  of  this  most 
dreaded  malady  for  work  among  its  victims,  and  in 
that  belief  has  submitted  to  eight  years  of  almost  en- 
tire isolation.  When,  moreover,  some  of  her  own  de- 
scriptions of  her  symptons  (already  quoted)  are  borne 
in  mind  it  will  be  obvious  that  but  little  importance 
can  attach  to  an  opinion  formed  upon  a  cursory  and 
incomplete  examination,  and  which  was  arrived  at 
moreover,  at  a  time  when  the  distinctive  symptoms 
were  exceptionally  abated  and  the  general  health  re- 
markably good. 


The  Prayer  of  Faith  121 

There,  is,  however,  another  aspect,  beside  the  med- 
ical one,  to  this  question  of  the  holding  in  check,  or 
partial  healing  of  the  disease  of  leprosy  in  this  re- 
markable case.     When  we  remember  that  in  the  de- 
cided  and   unanimous   opinion   of    the  experts  just 
named,  Miss  Reed  has  been  for  nine  years  suffering 
from  a  disease  which  in  that  period  usually  reduces  its 
victims  to  a  condition  of  hideous  disfigurement,  and 
when  we  also  bear  in  mind  that  she  has  always  de- 
clined the  use  of  medical  remedies,  and  that,  neverthe- 
less, she  is  now,  and  has  been  for  many  months  past, 
in  better  general  health  than  she  frequently  enjoyed 
in  former  years,  we  must  admit  that  we  have  to  do 
with  a  very  unusual  case  indeed.     And  our  wonder  is 
enhanced  by  the  fact  that,  at  times,  the  outward  symp- 
toms so  far  subside  as  to  be  scarcely  visible  to  an 
ordinary  observer.     But  to  the  believer  in  the  prayer 
of  faith  the  explanation  is  not  far  to  seek.     There 
have  been  few  missionaries  for  whom  more  constant 
prayer  has  been  made  than  for  Miss  Reed.     Since  her 
story  became  more  widely  known,  multitudes  of  Chris- 
tian hearts,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  have  offered 
up  earnest  petitions  for  strength,  and,  if  it  pleased 
God,  even  healing,  to  be  granted  to  His  servant.    We 
cannot  doubt,  moreover,  that  Miss  Reed's  wonderful 
health  is  closely  connected  with  the  splendid  spirit  of 
consecration  in  which  she  accepted  her  cross  of  suffer- 
ing and  isolation.     She  has  found  an  opiate  for  her 
own  sorrow  in  devoted  service  among  those  whose 
sufferings  far  surpassed  her  own.     The  record  of  self- 
sacrificing  labor  contained   in   these  pages,  and  the 


122  Mary  Reed 

spirit  of  courage  and  consecration  breathing  through 
her  letters,  as  well  as  the  marked  blessing  vouchsafed 
to  her  efforts,  are  ample  evidence  that  these  many 
prayers  have  been  graciously  answered.  But  the  won- 
derful health  granted  by  the  Divine  Master  to  His 
faithful  servant  has  brought  with  it  some  misunder- 
standing. Ardent  enthusiastic  sympathizers  have 
hastily  jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  their  prayers 
have  received  the  full  answer  for  which  they  longed, 
and  currency  has  been  given  to  premature  statements 
that  Miss  Reed  has  been  healed.  But  the  truth,  as 
usual,  lies  between  the  two  extremes.  While  the 
eager  expectations  of  those  who  would  fain  see  in 
Miss  Reed  an  example  of  Divine  cleansing  from 
physical  leprosy  is  not  borne  out  by  the  facts,  the 
scepticism  of  those  who  question  that  the  disease  has 
ever  been  present  is  still  less  justified. 

But  on  this  vital  point  it  is  as  well  that  the  subject 
of  this  biography  should  speak  for  herself,  and  my 
readers  will  be  glad  to  peruse  the  following  notes 
kindly  contributed  by  Miss  Reed,  under  date  of  June 
9th,  1899.  Referring  to  the  doubts  expressed  by  some 
who  saw  her  when  the  outward  marks  of  the  disease 
were  least  evident,  she  writes  : 

' '  It  was  a  great  grief  to  me,  and  to  some  of  my 
nearest  friends  to  realize  that  there  are  those  even 
among  our  dear  missionaries  who  prefer  to  doubt  the 
existence  of  this  most  dreaded  of  all  maladies  rather 
than  believe  in  what  is  by  many  called  '  faith  healing,' 
but  what,  in  reality,  this  manifestation  of  God's  keep- 
ing power  is  to  tne^  viz.  Divine  Health, 


The  Prayer  of  Faith  123 

"  And  so  after  that  ordeal,  which  was  followed  by 
continuous  trial  for  some  months  because  of  untrue 
and  conflicting  newspaper  reports,  I  was  enabled  to 
make  over  to  Him  who  cares  and  will  not  let  me  have 
too  much  to  bear,  this  fiew  phase  of  the  trial  of  which 
we  shall  never  know  the  full  meaning  here  on  earth. 
We  s/ia//  know  hereafter.  Since  my  return  home  I 
have  more  than  ever  enjoyed  singing  with  all  my  heart : 

"  I  leave  it  all  with  Jesus, 

For  He  knows 
How  to  steal  the  bitter 

From  life's  woes ; 
How  to  gild  the  tear-drop 

With  His  smile, 
Make  the  desert  garden 

Bloom  awhile ; 
When  my  weakness  leaneth 

On  His  might, 

All  seems  light. 

''I  found  such  a  beautiful  text  only  to-day.  And 
because  it  has  been,  is  being,  and  will  continue  to  be 
verified  to  me  I  quote  it :  <  The  heavens  and  the  earth 
shall  shake ;  but  the  Lord  will  be  the  hope  (or  the 
place  of  repair,  or  harbor)  of  His  people  and  the 
strength  of  the  Children  of  Israel'  (Joel  iii.  16,  with 
marginal  reading).  T/iaf  is  the  secret !  The  Lord 
Himself  our  '  place  of  repair  '  and  our  harbor  in  times 
of  storm.  His  presence  is  Salvatio?i.  Surely  He 
hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows,  and 
does  not  wish  us  to  bear  and  carry  them  any  more 
than  the  burden  of  sins. 


124  Mary  Reed 

"He  gives  me  wondrous  health  and  strength,  far, 
far  beyond  what  could  be  expected  from  a  purely  hu- 
man standpoint.  My  general  health  has  never  been 
so  good  as  it  has  been  now  for  nearly  a  year  past. 
Some  of  my  friends  have  the  impression  from  my  ap- 
pearance, and  from  the  fact  that  Dr.  Condon  himself 
stated  some  months  ago  that  he  considered  me  *  prac- 
tically' healed,  that  I  have  been  'made  whole.'  But 
/  know  that  the  '  seal '  to  the  work  of  my  Master's 
appointing  here  at  Chandag  Heights  becomes  so  plamly 
visible  at  times  that  no  one  could  doubt  that  disease 
still  lingers  in  my  system,  though  my  finger  does  not 
now  burst  open  as  it  did  more  than  a  score  of  times 
before  1898.     (The  italics  are  Miss  Reed's.) 

"  Who  can  fail  to  recognize  the  hand  of  God  stay- 
ing the  malady  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  a  multitude 
of  Christian  hearts  bound  by  the  blessed  tie  of  Chris- 
tian love? 

"Most  humbly  do  I  praise  and  thank  God  our 
Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour,  the 
Fountain  of  life  and  health  and  peace,  for  marvellously 
improved  health  !  '  He  hath  heard  the  voice  of  my 
(our)  supplications  .  .  .  my  heart  trusted  in  Him 
and  I  am  helped ;  therefore  my  heart  greatly  rejoiceth, 
and  with  my  song  will  I  praise  Him.' 

"  And  now,  in  closing  this  very  imperfect  review  of 
some  experiences  of  these  latter  days,  let  me  quote 
part  of  one  of  the  chapters  of  the  'Book  of  Books,' 
which  I  committed  to  memory  when  a  little  girl.  It 
made  an  indelible  impression  on  my  mind  and  heart, 
and — (dare  I  say  it  ?) — upon  my  life  also  : 


The  Prayer  of  Faith  125 

'' '  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto 
Thy  Name  give  glory,  for  Thy  mercy  and  for  Thy 
truth's  sake.' 

"Wherefore  should  the  heathen  say,  where  is  now 
their  God  ? 

"But  our  God  is  in  the  heavens;   He  hath 

DONE  whatsoever  He  HATH  PLEASED. 

"  Their  idols  are  silver  and  gold,  the  work  of  men's 
hands. 

"'They  have  mouths,  but  they  speak  not;  eyes 
have  they,  but  they  see  not.*     (Ps.  cxv.  1-5.) 

"Oh  !  how  painfully  true  I  have  found  it  here,  in 
this  end  of  the  earth,  that  *  they  that  make  them  are 
like  unto  them,'  deaf  to  God's  voice,  and  blind  to 
His  wondrous  love  until  the  entrance  of  His  word,  and 
the  influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit  enlighten  and  quicken 
those  who  are  *  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.' 

"  The  dead  praise  not  the  Lord.     .     .     . 

"But  WE  WILL  bless  the  Lord  from  this  time 

FORTH  AND  FOREVERMORE.       PrAISE  THE  LORD. 

"Please  pray  for  the  salvation  of  the  thousands  of 
unsaved  souls  who  have  heard  the  call  to  come  to 
Jesus  and  be  saved.  There  are  many  all  about  us 
here  who  have  heard  the  message  of  salvation,  but  are 
halting  between  two  opinions.  Please  pray  for  them 
every  time  you  think  of  us  here  in  this  outpost. 

"As  we  pray  and  wait  before  the  Lord,  we  come 
more  and  more  to  see  with  His  eyes,  and  think  His 
thoughts.  The  flame  of  love  burns  more  brightly, 
and  we  become  missionary-hearted,  with  a  heart  some- 
what akin  to  that  of  the  first  Great  Missionary  who 


126  Mary  Reed 

came  such  a  long,  long  journey  to  this  lost  and  ruined 
world,  '  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  should  not 
perish  but  have  everlasting  life.'  May  God  help  us 
all  to  assist  in  carrying  the  Gospel  to  perishing  souls. 
May  the  Lord  Himself  teach  us,  and  help  us  to  be 
faithful  in  the  'ministry  of  intercession,'  that  His 
kingdom  may  come,  and  His  will  may  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven." 

But  few  words  remain  to  be  added  by  the  compiler 
of  this  volume,  who  would  here  gratefully  acknowledge 
the  spiritual  stimulus  he  has  often  received  from  the 
life  and  the  letters  of  Mary  Reed,  in  the  odd  hours  of 
a  busy  life,  during  which  this  labor  of  love  has  been 
fulfilled.  At  sundry  times  and  in  many  places  the 
work  has  been  done,  and  to  this  the  reader  is  asked  in 
his  charity  to  attribute  the  defects  which  a  critical  eye 
will  readily  discover. 

Now  the  sum  of  what  has  been  written  is  this :  A 
gentle  and  sensitive  woman  awakes  suddenly  to  the 
appalling  fact  that  she  is  a  leper  !  Instantly  her  pur- 
pose is  formed  to  devote  herself  to  work  among  her 
fellow-sufferers.  In  unquestioning  obedience  to  what 
she  regards  as  the  Divine  voice,  she  journeys  to  the 
verge  of  the  Himalayas.  Near  by  is  a  small  commu- 
nity of  stricken  people  among  whom  Miss  Reed  is  at 
once  appointed  to  minister.  Her  labors  have  resulted 
in  the  admission,  after  careful  testing,  of  123  lepers 
into  the  Church  of  Christ.  To  this  is  to  be  added  the 
provision  of  food,  clothing,  shelter,  and  relief  for  her 
large  and  growing  flock,  together  with  the  comfort 


The  Prayer  of  Faith  127 

brought  to  their  sad  hearts  by  Christian  sympathy  and 
kindness.  She  has  moreover  acquired  the  extensive 
grounds,  and  supervised  the  erection,  of  what  is  now 
one  of  the  finest  leper  asylums  in  the  world.  For 
nearly  eight  years  she  has  labored  with  unswerving 
purpose,  in  a  degree  of  health  that  is  amazing,  and 
which  all  who  believe  in  the  power  of  prayer  will 
gratefully  recognize  as  Divinely  bestowed. 

This  record  of  Mary  Reed's  life  and  work  is  issued 
in  the  hope  that  it  may  stimulate  others  to  a  consecra- 
tion as  complete  as  her  own,  and  may,  at  the  same 
time,  call  forth  compassion  and  help  for  the  many 
thousands  of  outcast  lepers  in  our  Indian  Empire  and 
other  Eastern  lands. 


Founded  1874. 

THE    MISSION     TO     LEPERS 
IN    INDIA    AND    THE    EAST. 


OBJECTS  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 

To  preach  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the 

Lepers. 
To  provide  for  their  simple  wants,  and  to 

relieve  their  dreadful  sufferings. 
To  provide  Homes  for  Lepers  and  for  their 

untainted  children. 


WHAT  MONEY  WILL  DO. 

$20.00  supports  a  Child  for  12  Months. 
$25.00  supports  a  Leper  for  a  Year. 
$60.00    to    $100.00    supports    a    Christian 

Teacher  for  a  Year. 
$750.00  to  $1,500.00  will  build  an  Asylum 

for  Outcast  Lepers. 

SOME  OF  THE   RESULTS. 

Number  of  Stations  of  all  kinds    ..      ..  53 
Asylums    entirely    supported    by    the 

Society        20 

Homes  for  Untainted  Children       ..     ..  14 

Total  wholly  or  partially  supported 

(about)         4,000 

Christian  Lepers  in  connection  with 

the  Society  (about)        2,000 


Date  Due 

■  I - 

'^j^ — . — * 

OtC  0 

/   -99^ 

^' 

/ 

_j' 

/ 

' 

X 


